Podcasts about engineer battalion

We first became aware of the story at the heart of this episode over three years ago. Details were scarce at the time, but we knew that heat casualties had been a major issue for units at Defener Pacific... except for one company that was completely unaffected. And as it turned out, that company had been doing afternoon physical training to deliberately prepare for the heat (plus leveraging H2F experts to optimize the training). Our guest for this episode was the commander of that company at the time, and he provides a ton of insight into how good training management left his company with zero heat casualties while the battalion experienced 45. MAJ Christian Wardynski is an Instructor of Economics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, which he also graduated from in 2014. After graduating Engineer BOLC, Chris served in the 54th BEB, 173rd IBCT in Vicenza, Italy as a Light Equipment PL, Sapper PL, and BN Air Officer. Most recently, he served as the Company Commander for Bravo Company, 37th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from West Point, a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago where he also served as a fellow at the Pearson Institute. Chris and his wife, Jackie, have four daughters.He also provided a bunch of clarifying notes that we'll share here:He said the DoD vs. VA alignment is a Principal-Agent Problem, but as he described it, it would probably fit the definition of a negative externality better - the DoD's decisions to "overuse"/ or under-rehabilitate soldiers impose uncompensated long-term healthcare costs on the VA (and thus the taxpayer); same for the current commander not considering the cost savings of proper rehabilitation/physical resiliency of soldiers for the next commander. Regardless, both principal-agent issue and externality issue apply. You can tell by this correction that he's a true econ instructor...For additional context on the heat acclimation they started in May 2021, they had Company STX the second week of June and he initially started reverse cycle PT to see if it'd help soldiers with performance during the STX event. They executed 9x ESB-style lanes focused on individual soldier and engineer tasks, and covered over 30 miles under load in 24 hours. As a bit of risk management for the event, he mandated that all soldiers had to eat at least the main meal of the MRE and a side, or three sides total if not eating the main meal, as well as the entire salt/electrolyte packet every four hours during the event. If they found any soldier who ate less than the required amount, it would result in a summarized article 15 (if there were no extenuating circumstances). It was on the TLs to decide if they needed to eat more frequently and if they wanted to eat on the move or not. Team leaders led their own teams movement through all the lanes and to each station. This provided a great opportunity for them to exercise some initiative and leadership. Surprisingly, zero heat casualties during this crucible event for the ~80 soldiers that completed it, despite a peak ~95 degree heat index in that timeframe. Regarding Defender Pacific, when he arrived to his company assembly area after the jump, his soldiers looked utterly unphased and appeared completely fresh. The BN TF, however, had about 45 heat casualties by that time. After the BN TF mission was complete, they had a 7 mi ruck to the training area where they'd rest overnight, and his soldiers handled the movement without any issue whatsoever. He did note that they did not have a very hard follow on mission, whereas most other companies in the BN TF had some pretty physically arduous movements/follow-on missions.

Episode 3047 – Vietnam Vet Bill Curwick helped close down Chu Lai baseListen to Episode 3047 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Bill Curwick of Marshall, MN. He served with D Company, 26th Engineer Battalion, the Americal Division at Chu … Continue reading →

World War II is the last war America fought that had clearly defined goals: defeating the Nazis and halting Japanese imperialism. Our efforts were supported by a  civilian and military leadership that understood what victory looked like and were aligned on how to achieve it. That unity was critical to ensuring the support of the citizenry. Since then, the U.S. has sent our military off to fight in multiple regional wars – from Korea to Vietnam to Afghanistan – that turned into quagmires, conflicts in which civilian leaders and military advisors often disagreed on goals, how to achieve them and what the end game looked like. Joining us to discuss what went wrong in these wars and how the Army is changing its approach to avoid repeating the same mistakes is U.S. Army Colonel Anastasia Breslow-Kynaston who is currently completing her master's in Strategic Studies at the Army War College. This degree has been redesigned to mark the Army's transition from the ‘down and in thinking' of organizational leadership, where unit optimization and readiness were the primary focus, to the ‘up and out thinking' that factors in the global ramifications of American military action and how it unfolds. She will explain how a new generation of military leaders are being taught to anticipate and navigate the inevitable tension between our national interests and their affect upon the global community by studying the missteps of past conflicts. This includes topics such as strategic empathy (Iraq – understanding our adversaries), theories of victory (North Vietnam – winning by simply continuing to exist), and the importance of civil-military relations (Korea – MacArthur getting relieved during the Korea war). She will also share how this new approach is meant to develop critical thinkers and strategic problem solvers that understand how the military fits with the non-military instruments of national power to advance U.S. interests and support the rules-based international order. Colonel Breslow-Kynaston brings significant experience to her work. She served two tours in Afghanistan. The first with the 1/229th Aviation Battalion Attack in 2002-2003, and the second in 2010 as Commander of the Division Signal Company for the 101st Airborne Division. In addition, she served for a year in Ramadi, Iraq with the 1st Engineer Battalion. During that time, as one of the original Lioness soldiers, she was attached to the 2/4 Marines during the 2004 Battle of Ramadi. Colonel Breslow-Kynaston, along with four of her fellow Team Lioness members, were featured in the documentary film Lioness which aired nationally on PBS. We're grateful to UPMC for Life  for sponsoring this event!

Welcome to "The Readiness Brief," a limited podcast series hosted by The O2X Podcast, designed to explore the critical importance of readiness within the tactical community. In each episode, we bring to the forefront seasoned members of the O2X Integrated Readiness Platform (IRP) network, engaging in insightful conversations with senior leaders across the tactical population."The Readiness Brief" aims to foster a deeper understanding of the O2X Integrated Readiness Platform (IRP) while spotlighting successes and valuable insights from organizations committed to preparedness.Part 3 features O2X Human Performance Program Manager w/ U.S. Army Reserves 81st Readiness Division Mark Christiani and Chief Warrant Officer 4 LaTonya Y. Pettigrew.Chief Warrant Officer 4 LaTonya Y. Pettigrew serves as the Army Reserve Medical Command's Senior Warrant Officer Advisor to the Commanding General and G4 Senior Property Accounting/Logistics Management Technician. Since enlisting in 2000, she has built an impressive military career spanning active duty, reserves, and Active Guard Reserve positions, including roles with the 4th Psychological Group (Airborne), 863rd Engineer Battalion, 416th Engineer Command, 472nd Chemical Battalion, 518th Regional Support Group, and 300th Military Police Brigade before joining ARMEDCOM in 2021. CW4 Pettigrew holds a BS in Integrated Supply Chain Operations Management and a Master of Divinity in Christian Apologetics, complemented by extensive military education including the upcoming Warrant Officer Senior Service Education graduation. Her expertise in logistics, property management, and supply chain operations has earned her multiple commendations, including the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Beyond her distinguished military service, she is married to James Pettigrew and is a mother of three sons.Mark Christiani serves as an On-Site Human Performance Specialist focusing on Strength and Conditioning at the 81st Readiness Division, bringing over a decade of military and civilian expertise to the role. As an Army Veteran and former Brigade Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for GAP Solutions, Inc., he managed performance programs for more than 3,000 soldiers while demonstrating exceptional leadership in resource management and regulatory compliance. His professional background spans operations management, executive support, and project coordination, with a proven track record of connecting organizational vision to tangible results through strategic empowerment. Mark holds a Master of Science in Sports Medicine from Georgia Southern University and maintains certification as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), complemented by ongoing studies in High-Performance Collaboration at Northwestern University. His career highlights include leading operational improvements, conducting research in exercise physiology and biomechanics, and implementing large-scale conditioning initiatives that optimize military personnel performance through his technical expertise in injury rehabilitation, coaching, and sports science.Building Homes for Heroes:https://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/Download the O2X Tactical Performance App:app.o2x.comLet us know what you think:Website - http://o2x.comIG - https://instagram.com/o2xhumanperformance?igshid=1kicimx55xt4f 

Last time we spoke about the third arakan campaign. In December, General Bruce's forces advanced through Leyte, securing Ormoc and preparing for a decisive push toward Valencia.. The 305th and 306th Regiments steadily overcame enemy positions, while the 307th secured the airstrip. As Japanese forces began to retreat, the 12th Cavalry captured Kananga, opening Highway 2. Meanwhile, in Burma, General Slim devised Operation Extended Capital, aiming to outmaneuver the Japanese and cut off their supply lines, setting the stage for a crucial battle. As Admiral Mountbatten pivoted from Operation Dracula to launch Operation Romulus in Arakan, General Christison devised a three-pronged assault on Akyab. Facing fierce Japanese resistance, Private Kweku Pong displayed extraordinary bravery amidst chaos, earning recognition for his valor. Meanwhile, the 28th Army struggled to defend its positions, ultimately retreating under pressure. Amidst strategic deceptions, the Allies advanced through challenging terrain, culminating in significant victories that shifted the tide in Burma, showcasing courage and tactical ingenuity in the face of adversity. This episode is the Victory at Leyte  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  As we last left off, General Krueger's forces had effectively secured the Ormoc Valley, prompting many Japanese units to begin a challenging retreat toward Palompon. From that point, the best General Suzuki's troops could manage was to hold their positions for as long as possible. The Japanese had pockmarked Matagob and the area surrounding it with foxholes and emplacements and had dug spider holes under the houses. South of Matagob, where the road climbed into the hills, the enemy had utilized natural caves, gullies, and ridges on both sides of the road and dug many deep defensive positions. Some of these were eight feet deep, two feet in diameter at the top, and widened to six feet at the bottom. The Japanese had emplaced machine guns in culverts and had constructed several well-camouflaged coconut log pillboxes on the forward slopes of the ridges. An excellent, almost invisible installation, which served as an observation post, was dug in on the forward slope of a ridge about three miles north of San Miguel. It had a concealed entrance on the reverse slope. From this post eight miles of the road to the north and east could be observed.  Meanwhile, eager to deliver a decisive blow, Krueger organized his forces for a four-division assault along a wide front toward the west coast. General Bruce's 77th Division was tasked with advancing west along the Palompon road, while the three divisions of General Sibert's 10th Corps embarked on a difficult trek across the mountains to reach the northwest coast. The northwestern mountains of Leyte west of Ormoc Bay provided a difficult barrier to any movement toward the northwest coast. The area was the last one available to the Japanese either for escaping from Leyte or for staging defensive actions. In general, the terrain was rough, increasing in altitude from broken ground and low hills in the north to steep rocky ridges and high hills in the south. The northern part was either under cultivation or covered with cogon grass. Toward the south, the cultivated fields and grasslands were gradually supplanted by dense forests. Palompon had been extensively used by the Japanese as an auxiliary port of entry to Leyte. The town was the western terminus of the road that ran north and eastward across the northwestern hills to join Highway 2 near Libongao. It was this road junction that the 10th and 24th Corps had seized. The Palompon road, as it was called, followed the lower slopes of the hills until the flat interior valley floor was reached. The confining hills were steep-sided with many knife-edged crests. Such was the area into which the forces of the 6th Army had driven remnants of the Japanese 35th Army. To facilitate the capture of Palompon, Bruce planned to land the 1st Battalion, 305th Regiment near the port, while the other two battalions advanced westward on the Palompon road. To support this operation, Admiral Kinkaid would provide amphibious vehicles, LCMs, and a PT escort. However, while preparations for the amphibious assault were underway, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 305th Regiment departed from Valencia on December 22, quickly crossing the Togbong and Pagsangahan Rivers without encountering any opposition, and eventually halting just beyond the Humaybunay barrio.  The 302nd Engineer Battalion, which followed behind the assault battalions, fought the "battle of bridges." The engineers worked around the clock, frequently without any infantry protection, to restore the bridges as soon as possible. The bridges were to be sufficiently strengthened initially to support 2.5-ton truck traffic for infantry supply, then they were to be reinforced to carry 20 tons in order to bring M8's forward, and eventually to 36-ton capacity to carry the M10's. General Bruce had hoped that sufficient Bailey bridges could be made available for important crossings to carry traffic while engineers built wooden bridges under the Bailey bridges. Only a limited number of Bailey bridges were furnished, however, and engineer progress to the west was slowed down. At the same time, patrols from the 128th Regiment successfully eliminated the last enemy strongholds in the Limon area, while the 127th Regiment advanced to Lonoy, where the 1st Cavalry Division was gearing up for its westward push. Finally, the 24th Division, now under Major General Roscoe Woodruff, dispatched the 34th Regiment to launch an attack toward Tuktuk. On December 23, as aircraft bombed Palompon, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 305th Regiment resumed their advance. The Americans steadily progressed along the road, successfully forcing the Takahashi Detachment to retreat to the mountains northwest of Matag-ob, where they had to fend off a series of strong night counterattacks. That same morning, the assault units of the 1st Cavalry Division moved out from the highway, facing no resistance as they advanced west through the mountains. This initial day of marching established the pattern for the following days, with the cavalry regiments continuing to push forward through challenging terrain, encountering only sporadic resistance. Additionally, from December 23 to 26, the 34th Regiment conducted extensive patrols along the west coast of the Leyte peninsula. Meanwhile, the advance echelon of the 1st Division successfully linked up with the 68th Brigade, reaching the Bagacay sector the next day. However, the main body of the division had to carve its way through dense jungle on its way to Bagacay. The 102nd Division was also advancing toward the area south of Matag-ob, but after failing to make contact with the 35th Army or the Takahashi Detachment, its units began to retreat to Villaba in the following days. On December 24, while the 1st Battalion was boarding at Ormoc, the remainder of the 305th Regiment launched another offensive. At 1000 on 24 December the assault troops jumped off. The Japanese resistance was light and intermittent, but American progress was slow because of the rough, irregular hills in which the enemy had established positions in foxholes, spider holes, and caves. Since it was not possible to bypass these positions, the regiment had to clear each one before the advance could continue. The force received some artillery fire but a mortar platoon from Company A, 88th Chemical Weapons Battalion, silenced the enemy guns. At 1500 the battalions set up their night perimeter 500 yards short of the road bend. During the night a Japanese force of twenty men, which tried to penetrate the defenses of the 3d Battalion, was killed. Both the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments sent out patrols on December 23 to reconnoiter the terrain. At 08:00 on December 24 the two regiments started for the west coast. Throughout the march to the sea, they encountered only small parties of the enemy, who put up no effective resistance, but heavy rains, dense, almost impassable forests, and steep craggy hills slowed the advance. The commanding officer of the 127th Infantry said of the hills encountered on December 24: “The morning was spent in climbing to the top of a mountain ridge. The climbing was difficult but as we later found out, the descent was much worse. The trail led almost perpendicular down the side. After reaching the bottom, another ridge was encountered, this almost straight up, everyone had to use hand holds to pull themselves up. All in all there were seven ridges from the bottom of the first descent to the first possible bivouac area.” The hills were less rugged from then on. Throughout the march both regiments also received supplies by airdrop, which was not completely satisfactory since none of the drops was made at the requested time and frequently there was a wide scattering of supplies. On December 25, the 1st Battalion of the former unexpectedly came across the remnants of the 1st and 57th Regiments. The Japanese forces suffered significant casualties and were compelled to disperse, but they eventually managed to reach Bacacay later that night. Meanwhile, the 305th Regiment made slow progress along the Palompon road against a well-entrenched enemy. However, the crucial development was that its 1st Battalion successfully landed at Buaya without facing any opposition.  A light fast armored column moved north to clear the road and to forestall any Japanese counterattack from that direction as the rest of the task force went rapidly south through the barrio of Look to Palompon, which fell at 1206. This closed the last main port of entrance on the island to the Japanese. Within four hours after hitting the beaches the battalion had secured the barrios of Buaya and Look as well as Palompon, and had strong patrols operating to the northeast and south. The troops met no opposition at any point. It was doubtless with great satisfaction that General Bruce sent the following message to the Commanding General, 14th Corps: "The 77th Infantry Division's Christmas contribution to the Leyte Campaign is the capture of Palompon, the last main port of the enemy. We are all grateful to the Almighty on this birthday of the Son and on the Season of the Feast of Lights." The 1st Battalion occupied a defensive position in the vicinity of Look on 25 December, and rested on 26 December, which was Christmas Day back home. It spent the next five days sending out patrols and awaiting the arrival through the mountains of the rest of the 305th Infantry. Once again, Suzuki's plans were thoroughly disrupted. Palompon was to have been used as the rear center of the line of communications and the army headquarters was to have been established at Kompisao, but the seizure of Palompon on 25 December by the 77th Division forced Suzuki to change the location of his army headquarters. He then selected as a base of operations an area in the vicinity of Ginabuyan that overlooked Silad Bay and was about three kilometers north of Villaba. The new area was a plateau with an elevation of about 1,200 feet, heavily forested and having rocky eastern and western slopes that made it "a natural fortress." From it one could command a view of Ormoc Valley to the east and the Camotes Sea and Cebu to the west. There were a few Filipino huts, and cultivated fields and coconut groves, interspersed with salt beds, lay along the beach. The area "was admirably suited for an extended period of defensive action." General Suzuki ordered the units of the 35th Army that were retreating westward to repair to the vicinity of the new base of operations.  He sent orders for his retreating units to gather there instead of in Palompon. Although Suzuki anticipated being able to support 15,000 men in this self-sufficient area, an assessment of the available resources revealed that they would only last for two weeks. Consequently, the Japanese began preparations for Operation Chi-Go, which involved the amphibious movement of several units, including the 35th Army headquarters and the majority of the 1st Division, to other islands in the Visayas. At the same time, on December 26, the 34th Regiment received orders to capture San Isidro. The next day, its 1st Battalion left Calubian and moved to the high ground overlooking the port, while Companies F and G conducted amphibious landings at Gigantangan Island and Taglawigan before securing Daha. The reinforced Company G then re-embarked on the landing craft and proceeded toward the San Isidro Bay area, where they encountered heavier resistance than anticipated and were ultimately forced to retreat. At the same time that the 2nd Battalion, 305th Regiment was being withdrawn for an overwater movement to Palompon, the 3rd Battalion continued its advance along the road, successfully covering over 1,000 yards by December 28. That day the foremost elements of the 5th and 12th Cavalry Regiments broke out of the mountains and reached the barrio of Tibur on the west coast, about 2,800 yards north of Abijao. By nightfall on the following day, the 7th Cavalry was also on the west coast but farther north. In its advance it had encountered and destroyed many small, scattered groups of the enemy, most of whom showed little desire to fight. The regiment arrived at Villaba, two and one-half miles north of Tibur, at dusk, and in securing the town killed thirty-five Japanese. Additionally, the 34th Regiment launched a coordinated assault on San Isidro, successfully overcoming all enemy resistance and capturing the port. In the following days, the troops moved south along the coast, eliminating small, poorly equipped Japanese units. Looking south on December 29, the 128th Regiment reached the high ground overlooking Tabango and Campopo Bays, while the 127th Regiment secured the high ground overlooking Antipole Point, completing the advance of the 32nd Division. Further south, the 3rd Battalion, 305th Regiment continued its push along the Palompon road despite strong resistance, while Company B secured the barrio of San Miguel. At 0930 on 30 December the 305th Infantry struck along the Palompon road, the 3d Battalion driving west, and the Provisional Mountain Force attacking east. The Mountain Force encountered only scattered resistance until 0930, when the Japanese, from well-entrenched positions in the precipitous sides of the road at a point about four miles east of Palompon, directed strong machine gun fire along the road. The Mountain Force dug in for the night on high ground overlooking the point at which its advance had been halted. The 3d Battalion succeeded in overcoming the opposition which had halted it the previous day, and pushed forward to a point about 1,000 yards southwest of Tipolo. The Japanese had emplaced artillery on curves in the road and could fire directly on the advancing American troops. Although the 305th Infantry lost one tank to enemy artillery fire, it was able to destroy three 75-mm. guns and capture two others intact. Meanwhile, Company C conducted a reconnaissance in force and executed an amphibious landing at Abijao, advancing 1,300 yards north to establish contact with elements of the 1st Cavalry Division near Villaba. By this time, most of the Japanese forces had successfully regrouped in the Villaba-Mount Canguipot area. Consequently, on December 31, Suzuki launched four strong counterattacks against the forces at Villaba; however, enemy artillery disrupted most of these assaults before elements of the 77th Division arrived to relieve the cavalrymen. With the westward advance to the coast complete, General Eichelberger's 8th Army officially took command of all units on Leyte Island, following MacArthur's announcement that organized resistance had ceased. As a result, on January 1, the 77th Division was instructed to relieve the 32nd and 24th Divisions, while the divisions of the 10th Corps moved to staging areas in preparation for upcoming operations. The 8th Army also assumed control of operations on Samar Island, which had similarly been secured against enemy forces. Units from the 1st Cavalry Division had pushed through heavy resistance to reach the strategic Taft-Wright Highway that runs through central Samar. On December 8, the cavalry successfully captured Wright, the western end of the highway, and then moved east to connect with friendly guerrilla forces advancing from Taft on the opposite coast, thereby securing control of the highway. Meanwhile, following the successful invasion of Mindoro, American forces continued their efforts on Hill Drome and Ellmore Field, with General Dunckel's troops conducting extensive patrols to locate enemy stragglers while awaiting the arrival of the 21st Regiment. The only opposition faced came from the persistent assaults of the 4th Air Army and the 1st Combined Base Force. On December 21 and 22, the 1st Resupply Echelon was attacked by enemy aircraft. About twenty kamikazes attacked the convoy, so damaging two LST's that they later had to be abandoned, and inflicting lesser damage on two destroyers and a Liberty ship. The 3d Battalion, 21st Infantry, en route to Mindoro in this convoy lost 6 men killed and 32 wounded; U.S. Navy losses were about 70 men killed or wounded; the Japanese lost 7 planes in kamikaze attacks and 3 others to shipboard antiaircraft fire. Then, from December 28 to December 30, Task Unit 18.3.15 was also attacked by kamikazes. Meanwhile, Admiral Okawachi was getting Admiral Shima's 2nd Striking Force ready for a hit-and-run surface attack on enemy invasion ships near San Jose, known as Operation Rei-Go. However, a proposed counter-landing on Mindoro, which was supported by Marshal Terauchi, Admiral Fukudome, and General Tominaga, faced strong opposition from General Yamashita and his 14th Area Army. The Area Army staff adamantly maintained that it would be impossible to move any sizeable forces to Mindoro but agreed to dispatch a small raiding unit to hamper enemy development of airfields in the San Jose area. On or about 24 December, an order was issued to the 8th Division to organize a task unit for this mission as soon as possible. Ultimately, a reluctant compromise was reached, allowing a small raiding unit from the 8th Division to be sent to disrupt enemy airfield development in the San Jose region. The raiding detachment was a specially organized provisional unit which included a small number that originally belonged to the Gi-Go Airborne Raiding Unit. It assembled at Batangas and prepared to embark for Mindoro. While this unit was being organized, Shima's warships left Camranh Bay on December 24. However, as they approached Mindoro on December 26, a lone PBY reconnaissance plane spotted them. In response, 105 aircraft were sent to conduct low-level attacks on the Japanese force.  At 19:40 the first wave of planes found the vessels just offshore. Before the wild engagement was over, the full wing strength had attacked every ship at least once. "When I saw a solid sheet of flame," reported one pilot in describing the AA, "I knew I was over the vessel." While wheeling away from the target, each pilot flashed on his running lights to avoid collision. Some planes landing in the Mindoro blackout for rearming, made as many as three strikes against the enemy vessels. Although PT boats, lurking close to shore, fired torpedoes at the silhouetted Japanese targets, only the destroyer Kiyoshimo went down, and the fleet persisted toward the beachhead, where at 22:40 it fired star shells which began an ineffective 40-minute bombardment. Only one Liberty ship, which had not sought refuge behind Ilin Island as directed, was sunk. Naval gunfire and simultaneous Japanese air attacks caused little damage at Hill, but made it difficult for the airmen aloft to land. With gasoline running short, most of the pilots made as many attacks as possible and then headed through the night and bad weather for Leyte, a flight more dangerous than the Japanese AA had been. When a full count was made, losses during the engagement totaled 26 aircraft. For the force engaged this was a heavy loss, but it was not in vain, for several Japanese survivors attributed the amazingly poor bombardment by their fleet to the aerial clawing which had demolished main batteries and killed a majority of the gun crews. Dunckel thought that without a doubt the airmen had saved the beachhead from serious losses: "The action of our Air Units on that night," he wrote, "will stand forever… as one of the most gallant deeds to be established in the traditions of American fighting men." On 26 December 1944, then with the San Jose bombardment force, Kiyoshimo was crippled by two direct bomb hits in attacks by U.S. Army bombers during the approach to Mindoro, Philippines. The ship was then finished off by a torpedo from U.S. PT-223, 145 miles south of Manila ; 82 were killed and 74 injured. The destroyer Asashimo rescued 169 survivors, including ComDesDiv 2, Captain Shiraishi Nagayoshi, and Lieutenant Commander Kajimoto; U.S. PT boats rescued five others.Despite this, Shima pressed on toward his target, entering the anchorage area at 23:00 to commence bombardment of San Jose. After approximately forty minutes of shelling, during which one auxiliary vessel and a PT boat were sunk, the Japanese ships withdrew northwest at high speed, still under fire from enemy planes. Although Shima's force ultimately managed to escape, the air attacks resulted in the sinking of the Kiyoshimo and damage to the Ashigara, the light cruiser Oyodo, and three destroyers, with a loss of 26 aircraft. The bombardment prevented landings at the Mindoro strips and many pilots, finding their planes running low on fuel, headed through the darkness and heavy weather toward Leyte fields only to crash on the way. Following this unsuccessful operation, on December 31, the raiding unit from the 8th Division finally crossed the Verde Island Passage by landing craft to reach Calapan in northeastern Mindoro, and then proceeded to Pinamalayan, arriving there on January 5. We must now depart from the Philippines and proceed to Bougainville to report on the preparations for a new Australian offensive.  Previously, we observed that General Savige's 2nd Corps had successfully relieved the American troops stationed at the Cape Torokina perimeter.  The Australians had now reached the conclusion that the Japanese had disbanded depleted units to reinforce others and were maintaining a well- disciplined and efficient force. They decided that, at the end of November, the force included the 38th Independent Mixed Brigade, built round the 81st Regiment, and the 6th Division with three depleted infantry regiments -13th, 23rd and 45th. Of these the 38th Brigade was believed to be chiefly concentrated at Numa Numa, with part of the 81st Regiment forward on the trail; most of the 13th Regiment was believed to be round the Jaba River-Gazelle Harbour area, with the 23rd farther south, and the 45th round Kieta on the east coast. The Allied Intelligence estimates of the whereabouts of the main Japanese forma- tions on Bougainville proved accurate. The main shortcoming was that the strength of the naval troops was underestimated. At the time of the arrival of the Aus- tralians there were about 11,000 naval men, including 3,500 civilian workers, on the island; the 87th Garrison Force, about 4,000 strong, was in the Buka area, and in the south were two strong forces of marines: the 6th Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force (about 2,000) and the 7th Kure Special Naval Landing Force (about 1,500). Indeed the naval forces were about as strong in fighting men as the 6th Division. The successful attack on Little George by the 9th Battalion on 29th November, six weeks before it was expected, surprised the enemy commanders and convinced them that the Australians were determined to open an offensive. Reinforcements numbering 450 were hurried into the central area (there were 2,000 troops deployed in or forward of Numa Numa) and Colonel Kaneko Atsushi of the 81st Regiment took command. A further 1,000 troops were sent from Kieta and the north to Numa Numa. Hyakutake was convinced that the attack on the Numa Numa trail would be accompanied by a landing at its eastern end with the object of severing his force. The quantity of artillery used in the attack on Little George and later Arty Hill convinced the Japanese that a determined thrust was being made. Arty Hill was defended by men of the 5th and 11th Companies of the 81st Regiment. Meanwhile the 13th Regiment was attacked on the Jaba River. Lieut-General Kanda of the 6th Division did not propose to contest the south bank of the river, considering that the crossing was merely a feint and the principal offensive would be made by sea; the main body of the defending force-1,500 men-was retained in the Mosigetta area. By January Kanda estimated that one Australian division, its name yet unknown, was south of the Jaba, with 25 guns. From 23rd to 26th November the 9th Battalion, with the 12th Field Battery and other detachments under command, took over this sector. The 9th Battalion's first task was actively to reconnoitre the Sisivie area with a view to attacking it later; and to secure ground from which such an attack could be launched. It had been believed that the main supply route from Numa Numa passed through Sisivie, but captured docu- ments and interrogation of prisoners revealed that Sisivie was merely an outpost and that the Piaterapaia area was the terminus of the enemy's line of communication; consequently the battalion's efforts were con- centrated in that direction. At 1.50 p.m. on the 24th one rifle shot was fired from Little George into the battalion's area the first shot in the Australian operations on Bougainville. On the 25th a small patrol moved stealthily to the rear of Little George and was fired on, two men being wounded. On the morning of the 29th the battery in the Doiabi Valley fired high-explosive and smoke shells on to Arty Hill, mortars fired smoke bombs on to Little George, and into the smoke a single platoon attacked. At the run the men reached the top of Little George before the Japanese emerged from shelter, opened fire with machine-guns and threw grenades. The attackers did not falter but worked their way forward in pairs, one man firing on a post while the other moved close and threw in grenades. Lieutenant Deacon, the commander, was 3 wounded but carried on. In about half an hour the position was gained. Two Australians had been killed and six wounded, of whom three remained on duty. Twenty Japanese dead lay on the hill, in- cluding a lieutenant and a sergeant. The expected enemy counter-attack was made in the evening by about 40 Japanese. It was a frontal thrust and gained no ground. Until dawn the enemy tried in vain to infiltrate. While these operations were in progress on the Numa Numa trail, the 2/8th Commando, next on the right, had taken over responsibility for the tangled mountain area rising to an altitude of 4,000 feet south and south-east of Mount Bagana, and known as the Hanemo sector. When the commando squadron took over from a company of the 164th American Regiment there had been no contact with the enemy for several weeks, and it was believed that only a handful of Japanese were in the neighbourhood. For five weeks from 24th November, when the relief was completed, a commando troop patrolled but met Japanese only twice, killing two and capturing another. By 27th December, when the 61st Battalion relieved the troop, it was considered that the area was clear and the flank of a force advancing down the coast would be safe. Additionally, Brigadier Raymond Monaghan's 29th Brigade was deployed to the southwestern edge of the perimeter, and a company from New Guinea was assigned to scout the Jaba River area. On December 3, Matthews sent a platoon to Sisivie, but the defenders were able to pin down the Australians with intense fire. After successfully repelling a strong enemy counterattack, the 9th Battalion advanced on Bawabu Ridge toward Pearl Ridge, with Matthews' C Company ordered to capture Arty Hill on December 18.  Matthews planned an attack on Arty Hill by a full company. At 7 a.m. on 18th December Major Blanch's C Company formed up on the sheltered side of George and Little George, on top of which men of a supporting company were walk- ing about nonchalantly to mislead the enemy into thinking that it was to be another uneventful day. Twelve New Zealand Corsairs at- tacked the Japanese positions; the battery of the 4th Field Regiment opened fire from its positions in the Laruma River Valley; medium machine-guns fired from Mount Deacon and Bawabu Ridge that is, from each flank-on to the reverse slope of Arty Hill at ranges up to 1,000 yards. After thirteen minutes of bombardment, the attackers advanced through the smoke along the razor-back ridge which was the only means of approach to the bare hill. Months of intermittent shelling had destroyed the bush and so loosened the soil on the steep slopes that the men had difficulty in scrambling up them. By 8.10 the leading troops were near the crest of Banyan Knoll and were meeting sharp small arms fire from Japanese in covered weapon-pits. Grenades were hurled down on them. They pressed on. Sergeant Allan, commanding the right platoon, led the way to the top of Banyan Knoll, shot a Japanese machine-gunner and himself fell dead. His men carried on up the slopes of Arty Hill. As at Little George, the attackers worked in pairs, one man covering an enemy post with fire while the other attacked from a flank with grenades. After more than an hour of close fighting the position was won and the defenders were digging in and setting up wire in preparation for the probable counter-attack. There was none: a prisoner said that there were not enough men left to attack. Five Australians were killed and 12 wounded of whom 4 remained on duty. Twenty-five Japanese dead were counted, 2 Japanese were taken prisoner, and from 10 to 20 recently-buried bodies were found. Two days later, Lieutenant-Colonel John McKinna's 25th Battalion began to relieve the exhausted 9th Battalion and was immediately tasked with taking Pearl Ridge, although its initial probing attacks were met with fierce resistance from the determined defenders. Meanwhile, Monaghan had deployed Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert McDonald's 15th Battalion to the Jaba River area, where they effectively cleared out enemy outposts. By the fourth week of December, the unofficial ceasefire on Bougainville had collapsed. Intense fighting erupted in two of the three main sectors, resulting in the deaths of over 100 Japanese soldiers, with their forward positions in each area being captured. The Australians were also bringing in additional reinforcements to sustain their offensive. According to Savige's strategy, Brigadier John Field's 7th Brigade was to be replaced by elements of Brigadier John Stevenson's 11th Brigade in the central sector, with orders to move south and join the rest of Major-General William Bridgeford's 3rd Division for an assault toward the Puriata River. Additionally, a strong contingent from the 11th Brigade was set to advance along the northwest coast of the island toward Soraken Harbour, aiming to push the northern enemy forces into the confined Bonis Peninsula. However, before these plans could be executed, McKinna was intent on capturing Pearl Ridge and aimed to launch one final attack with all his companies by the end of the month. Unbeknownst to the Australians, the few defenders in the area had recently received reinforcements in the form of a battalion under the direct command of Major-General Kijima Kesao, which significantly strengthened the ridge. Nevertheless, on the morning of December 30, aircraft bombarded the Japanese positions for about 40 minutes. At 08:00, the infantry advanced under the cover of artillery and machine-gun fire, with A Company facing heavy resistance just in front of Pear Hill that they could not overcome. Due to this setback on the right flank, McKinna ordered D Company to undertake a challenging climb along Pear Hill instead of the narrow spur where the attack had failed. Meanwhile, C Company made slow progress through dense brush but eventually managed to cut the enemy's track to the west. After repelling several enemy counterattacks during the night, the four companies renewed their assault on December 31. Although the march over Arty Hill and through thick underbrush was physically demanding, D Company managed to approach Pear Hill undetected. With A Company drawing enemy fire, D Company launched a powerful attack following an artillery bombardment that successfully pushed back the Japanese defenders. Meanwhile, B Company captured Baker's Brow to the west, and C Company held its position along the western track. However, by nightfall, Kijima's troops began testing the defenses established by C Company. In the early morning, the Japanese launched a fierce counterattack from the south and southeast, managing to penetrate two forward Australian positions. After an hour of intense hand-to-hand combat, the assault was ultimately repelled with the help of artillery support, and Australian patrols later found that Pearl Ridge had been abandoned by the enemy. Throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, the Australians conducted mopping-up operations until the ridge was completely cleared. With control of Pearl Ridge secured, the Australians gained a strategic vantage point that allowed them to observe from one side of Bougainville to the other, aiding future operations. During the battle, the Australians suffered 10 killed and 25 wounded, while the Japanese lost 34 killed and 1 captured. Shortly after taking Pearl Ridge, the 11th Brigade assumed control of the central sector as per Savige's orders, while the rest of the 7th Brigade began moving south. In conclusion, Major-General Percy Clarkson's 33rd Division began its deployment to Morotai in late December, with Colonel Ray Cavenee's 136th Regiment landing on the island's west coast on December 22. Four days later, the regiment advanced into Japanese-controlled territory to engage Colonel Kisou's 211th Regiment, receiving support from elements of the 130th Regiment moving overland from the Doroeba Plain and the 3rd Battalion of the 137th Regiment marching from Morotai's southern coast into the interior. This coordinated effort aimed to prevent the Japanese from dispersing into smaller groups in the island's mountainous regions. On January 3, the 136th Regiment located and attacked the 211th Regiment at Hill 40, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions advancing from the southwest while the 3rd Battalion approached from the north. After two days of intense combat, the Americans successfully captured Hill 40, inflicting significant casualties on the enemy, and then began pursuing the retreating Japanese forces to the north. Two thousand yards to the north, the 3d Battalion was settling down for the night. Its march from Radja had started badly. From the beginning the battalion had been harried by the enemy. On the nights of December 26-27 and 27-28, its perimeter had been attacked viciously by an estimated enemy battalion. (The 3d Battalion of the Jap 211th Infantry. It had been detached from the 211th for a special mission to Radja to await and guide reinforcements from Halmahera. The five reinforcing barges were ambushed after slipping through the Navy PT screen, and were destroyed along with fifty tons of food and supplies.) The battalion had experienced the hardest march of its history. The jungle was more difficult than that encountered by the Pilowo column. Moreover, to join the Hill 40 battle it had to abandon trails for cross-country movements. Although the battalion had marched and fought its way forward for ten days it was still in fighting trim. The number of Japs killed and found buried along the trail indicated terrible losses for the Japs. The battalion commander, Major Ralph Pate, attributed the lack of enemy resistance during the past two days to the withdrawal of the enemy. Actually, as he learned later, the 3d Battalion, Jap 211th Infantry Regiment, had been destroyed as a military force. By January 14, when the 136th Regiment was finally withdrawn to the main perimeter, the Americans reported having killed 870 Japanese soldiers and captured 10, suffering 46 men killed and 127 wounded in the process. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Krueger's forces captured Palompon, disrupting Japanese plans, while American troops advanced through challenging terrain, overcoming resistance and securing key locations. Japanese forces planned a counter-landing on Mindoro, but faced fierce opposition. Meanwhile, Australians advanced on Bougainville, capturing strategic positions amid heavy fighting.

AVAILABLE OCTOBER 17!!! Join us for a conversation with #Soldiers from the 14th Engineer Battalion, 7th Infantry Division our of Joint Base Lewis-McChord who recently were deployed to Idaho to help combat the wildfires in the Boise and Payette National Forests. We discuss what it's like fighting wildfires, the training received and their personal experiences. Favorite podcast platform or at one of the links below. https://anchor.fm/forscom-frontline https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-forscom.../id1584985613 https://open.spotify.com/show/3FXb1jG7PnqdEBfc6ARYVf Watch the Frontline podcast on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/.../UCkcU18XlcCLhcyGTSj_rQXg/videos#FORSCOMFrontline #BeAllYouCanBe #ArmyPossibilities #ArmyTeam #Soldiers I Corps U.S. Army

Join us for a conversation with #Soldiers of the 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, who recently won the FORSCOM Best Squad Competition. We talk about the competition, working as a team, and their motivation as they head into the U.S. Army's Best Squad Competition.Listen to EVERY episode of the Frontline podcast on your favorite podcast platform or at one of the links below. https://anchor.fm/forscom-frontline https://podcasts.apple.com/.../the-forscom.../id1584985613 https://open.spotify.com/show/3FXb1jG7PnqdEBfc6ARYVf Watch the Frontline podcast on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/.../UCkcU18XlcCLhcyGTSj_rQXg/videos#FORSCOMFrontline #BeAllYouCanBe #ArmyPossibilities #ArmyTeam #Soldiers See less

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia honors two Hispanic US Military Heroes, Alfred Velazquez Rascon and Raul Perez "Roy" Benavidez. ALFRED VELAZQUEZ RASCON is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel. In 2000, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a medic near Long Khánh Province during the Vietnam War. On more than one occasion Rascon exposed himself to enemy fire and grenades by covering the bodies of those whom he was aiding with his own. In addition to Vietnam, Rascon also served as a medical officer in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  MASTER SERGEANT RAUL PEREZ "ROY" BENAVIDEZ was a US Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat near Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on May 2, 1968, while serving as a member of the United States Army Special Forces during the Vietnam War. MIKE GUARDIA is the author of over 20 other military history books including  "The Combat Diaries: True Stories from the Frontlines of World War II." His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/    Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://mike-guardia-military-monday.podbean.com/ 

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, focuses on the Battle of Okinawa.  Codenamed "Operation Iceberg," the Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. It was fought on the island of Okinawa by US Army and US Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army.  Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books including  "The Combat Diaries: True Stories from the Frontlines of World War II." His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/      @MikeGuardiaAuthor  appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://mike-guardia-military-monday.podbean.com/ 

The 299th Combat Engineer Battalion was the only combat engineer unit to land on both Omaha and Utah beaches during the D-Day invasion. Some of the engineers landed before any other allied soldiers set foot on the beaches earning them the nickname “First on Omaha”. Chief Warrant Officer James W. Tucker was among them. His daughter Jean joins us to share more about the “Famous 299th”. James commanded a group of eight armored tractors whose mission was to clear obstacles and open paths off the Normandy beaches. One third of the Combat Engineer Battalion that landed on Omaha beach was killed missing or wounded. For their heroic efforts that day, they would be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Tucker was also assigned the somber job of creating the first American cemetery in Normandy. There were so many bodies on the beaches that the equipment could not land without driving over the bodies of their fellow soldiers. Tucker used a bulldozer to dig a mass grave while still under fire and he and his comrades “stacked the bodies like cordwood.” These remains were eventually relocated. Members of the 299th would fight and build their way across Europe to the heart of Germany. Jean was so inspired by her father's stories she has become a passionate advocate for their history. She single handedly manages their website and is continuously tracking down photos and stories from the families of members of the 299th Combat Engineers.  Family or living members of the Battalion are encouraged to contact Jean through their website. Jean and I also spend a great deal of time discussing the importance of recording these stories and history of generations that are rapidly passing away. She also regularly interacts with the “descendants” of this famous group – the 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion currently headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado. Jean also shares an intriguing story of the “spat” between the Army and the Navy over who should have responsibility for clearing obstacles on the landing beaches. They eventually agreed that any obstacles that were visible at high tide they would be the Army's responsibility.

In honor of the 4th of July Week (2024), this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, focuses on the history of Patriotism, and the American Flag and Anthem.  Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books including  "The Combat Diaries: True Stories from the Frontlines of World War II." His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/     Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://mike-guardia-military-monday.podbean.com/ 

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia features Dr. Brian Smith, President and CEO of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, who discusses the new National Geographic documentary "The Real Red Tails." Out now, "The Real Red Tails" shares the story of the astonishing discovery of a WWII-era P-39 airplane in Lake Huron, Michigan. Tuskegee pilot Frank Moody perished in the crash, but the significance of what he and his fellow airmen accomplished survives to this day. This fascinating one-hour National Geographic documentary special explores the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the mission to solve this 80-year-old mystery. Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books including  "The Combat Diaries: True Stories from the Frontlines of World War II." His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/    Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://mike-guardia-military-monday.podbean.com/ 

Last time we spoke about the battle of Wakde. Operation Tornado, the amphibious assault of Wakde island faced many logistical challenges, but not as much Japanese resistance. The landing at Arare was a large success, seeing the allies secure a beachhead before advancing inland. Through a combination of air, naval and ground attacks, the smaller Japanese force was pushed back. Likewise the islands of Liki and Niroemoar were taken with relative ease as well. Over in the Burma-India theater, the battle for Kohima was gradually seeing the Japanese fail to meet their objectives. Without ammunition or provision supplies flowing to them, the Japanese at Kohima had no hope of holding back the allies. Thus the Japanese were beginning to fall back and now were setting up a defense to stop the allies from entering central Burma. Meanwhile a siege was being erected against Myitkyina. This episode is the Siege of Myitkyina  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Last time we saw General Stilwell had managed to seize the Myitkyina airstrip. Now allied forces were gradually securing northern Burma, pushing further towards Mogaung. The Japanese 18th Division were absolutely battered and barely holding on around Kamaing. However when the American-Chinese forces seized Myitkyina's airstrip, they had failed to quickly attack the main town, which the Japanese were reinforcing heavily. Now they were being attacked from both ends. This prompted General Stilwell to dispatch General Boatner with the task force to try and turn things around. Simultaneously, Stilwell had just received word of the Chindits abandonment of the Blackpool stronghold, outraged by this he ordered them to advance northwards to support the attack on Mogaung. Three brigades, the 111th, 14th and the 3rd West Africans were to advance north to support Calvert's 77th Brigade to take Mogaung. The Chindits were incredulous. Nonetheless, Lentaigne, pressed by Stilwell, sought to have his 3rd West Africans, the 14th and 111th Brigades squeeze the Japanese along the western flanks of the Mogaung valley, in which Mogaung occupied the lowest point of an inverted triangle, with the other two points being Kamaing on the top left and Myitkyina on the top right. With any luck, his three brigades could capture Kamaing, which occupied an enviable place on the Mogaung River. The 111th Brigade was to move north-east and operate in the Pahok-Sahmaw area, destroying dumps and blocking enemy movement. Thebattered men of the 111th Brigade struggled to cope with the march north, to the hills east of Lakhren and west of Mogaung. Conditions were appalling on the three-day march to Lakhren village. From there, the best approach to Mogaung would be identified. They were making for a waterlogged, mosquito-infested area north east of the Lake. This area was also alive with Japanese units. They were required to support 77th Brigade's attack on Mogaung, by pushing from the west as Calvert's command advanced from the south-east. However, 111th Brigade was spent after Blackpool and many men were forced to return to Lakhren village. There was also a new task for 14th Brigade – the capture of Taungni. With the casualties evacuated, 14th Brigade abandoned the Kyunsalai Pass and headed north towards Mogaung. The steamy swamps continued to take their toll within the ranks of the York and Lancaster columns. Dysentery was rife. Animals collapsed and were shot where they dropped. They reached Mokso on June 25. This much-used rallying point, consisting of four huts, was a sea of mud and detritus, decorated with black clouds of flies. Rations were being consumed rapidly in an area devoid of drop zones. Brigadier Brodie, 14th Brigade's Commander, responded to the extreme circumstances. His men, despite their dangerously poor condition, were still expected to harass the Japanese along the railway and support 77th Brigade's assault on Mogaung. He formed his columns into “Light Battle Groups”, free of heavy weapons and the wounded and sick, now lying together in the mud. Meanwhile, some Nigerian units were now struggling on the road to Lakhren along the reailway, as were the York and Lancaster sick – around 300 in all, 200 of whom were dangerously ill. On May 25th, the same day the Chindits had quit Blackpool, Stilwell ordered the Morris Force to seize Waingmaw, across the river from Myitkyina. Unfortunately, the Japanese had entrenched themselves at the town and enjoyed the luxury of a natural moat after heavy rains flooded the fields on the approaches to the town. Morrisforce was not a proper brigade, having only two columns of troops, to which a third from the 111th Brigade had been added 1,500 troops in total. It had been conceived to harass the Japanese on jungle areas. Now, they were up against fortified positions. The result was a bloodbath. Morrisforce then began to rapidly deplete in strength. By July 14th, it was to consist of exactly three platoons, roughly 120 men. On May 31st, Boatner then launched his first coordinated attack against Myitkyina seeing the 42nd regiment reach the Waingmaw ferry road. Built up twelve feet above the neighboring paddy fields, the road gave the Japanese a magnificent defensive position, which they exploited cleverly. The Chinese recoiled from this natural fortification but were able to beat off a Japanese counterattack. The 150th Regiment reached the riverbank and drew up in an arc about a sawmill in which the Japanese had a strongpoint. Meanwhile Colonel Hunter's 2nd battalion reinforced with engineers advanced to Radhapur where they were heavily counterattacked by the 114th Regiment. The next day, the inexperienced 236th Engineer Battalion was sent against Namkwi. The motive behind the 236th's attack was to contain the Japanese in the Namkwi area and introduce the battalion to combat under relatively easy conditions. One company of the 236th did succeed in entering Namkwi but instead of promptly consolidating to meet the inevitable Japanese counterattack fell out for a break. The Japanese counterattacked and drove the unwary engineers right back out of the village. Both the engineers and the 2600 replacements of the Galahad Unit that had recently arrived lacked adequate experience fighting the Japanese and as such suffered badly when fighting against them. Colonel Hunter's veteran Marauders, however, had suffered ample casualties and thus needed these green replacements in order to continue existing as a fighting force. Boatner tossed a last ditch effort on June 3rd, but his Chinese forces had suffered 320 casualties and their ammunition was running low. While he waited for supplies to build up, he used his green american troops to give them some experience, the Chinese meanwhile tunneled towards the Japanese still suffering heavy casualties. This allowed more Japanese troops to break through and reinforce Myitkyina, with a huge relief force of the 52rd Division soon on its way. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Matsuyama Yuzo of the depleted 56th Division was facing a deadly offensive of his own on the Yunnan front. After a series of negotiations between Chiang Kai-Shek and the Americans, it had been agreed, General Wei Lihuang's Y Force would cross the Salween River to attack the Tengchong and Longling areas. This would effectively allow the allies to link the Ledo Road with China, bypassing the heavy Japanese concentration along the Burma Road. Although the Americans had supplied the Y Force with artillery and ammunition, the Chinese had failed to bring the Y Force divisions up to strength, and many questioned their training. Regardless, General Wei planned to have elements of the 20th army group cross the Salween at several points before initiating a full assault against Tengchong once reinforcements had been ferried through. Further south, elements of the 11th Army Group would also cross the Salween to launch attacks on Pingda and Longling.  On the night of May 11th, the Chinese forces began to cross the Salween River against little Japanese resistance, since Matsuyama had decided not to defend the crossing sites, instead placing his main line of resistance along the ridge line some 10 miles west. The 198th Division was able to assemble in front of the Mamien Pass; the 36th division was successfully ferried through Mengka; the brand new 39th Division managed to secure the Hueijen bridge and the 76th and 88th Divisions were converging on Pingda for the attack. On May 12th, the 198th were making good progress against the Mamien Pass as the 36th had surrounded the Japanese outposts in the eastern end of the Tiantouzhai pass. However Colonel Kurashige Yasuyoshi had his 148th regiment launched two surprise night counterattacks. All that night, the Japanese quietly filtered down from a nearby ridge and assembled near the Chinese position. Attacking at dawn, they surprised the Chinese and almost wiped them out before aid came. When darkness came, the 36th were at their bivouac. That night, the Japanese attacked vigorously, overrunning the division command post and causing the flustered 36th Division to fall back to the Salween. At dawn, the 53rd Army commander, Maj. Gen. Chou Fu-cheng, pushed a regiment across the Salween and restored the situation by attacking the Japanese flank. General Chou was an aggressive and tenacious fighter, whom his Manchurian soldiers had nicknamed Old Board-Back, and who had the reputation of never having yielded an inch to the Japanese. But even Chou could not immediately restore the morale of the 36th Division, which for some weeks took no further part in the Ta-tang-tzu fighting, and the rest of the 53rd Army had to bear the burden of clearing the pass. In response to this, Lt General Zhou Fucheng of the 53rd Army pushed the 116th and 130th Divisions across the river to resume the advance towards Tiantouzhai. At the Mamien pass, the 592nd and 594th Regiments began clearing out the Japanese strongpoints while the 593rd Regiment moved west over mountain byways to emerge into the Shweli valley by the 16th, securing the western end of the pass and forcing Kurashige's men to withdraw into the fortified village of Shangzhaigongfang. To the south, the New 39th would be able to secure Hemushu by the 17th. Yet the Japanese under Colonel Matsui Hideji soon recovered from the initial surprise of the Chinese offensive and the 1st battalion, 113th regiment drove the Chinese from Hung-mu-shu. The Japanese exploited their success and pushed the entire New 39th Division back against the Salween. Further south, the 76th Division met outposts of the 1st battalion, 146th regiment and forced them back to the heights overlooking Ping-ka. Meanwhile the 88th Division from the north was fighting through a series of fortified villages as it headed south to join the 76th Division. By the 16th, thirteen villages were occupied in the area northeast of Ping-ka, but the Japanese, as they withdrew, received reinforcements. Strengthened by the 2nd battalion, 113th regiment, the Japanese did not attack the Chinese who were pursuing them, but moved south and hit the Chinese 228th Regiment south and west of Ping-ka.  Sensing the imminent danger from the north,  Matsuyama redirected the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 113th Regiment to reinforce Shangzhaigongfang, where Kurashige would continue to resist staunchly. Reports from the American liaison teams were not cheerful. Americans observing the Kaolikung Range actions found that Japanese fire was accurate and economical, and that the enemy's use of camouflage and concealment approached perfection. The Japanese revealed no disposition to surrender though they were heavily outnumbered, often surrounded, and had neither air support nor air supply. On the other hand, the Americans reported that the Chinese endlessly wasted manpower and ammunition in costly frontal attacks. They reported that relations with the Chinese were not always as friendly as had been hoped, and they believed there would have to be better cooperation between Chinese and Americans if the Japanese were to be defeated. The Chinese were described as merely tolerating the Americans' presence and as paying little attention to their advice. The liaison personnel freely admitted their own shortcomings, and by their reports suggested that patience was the most important quality for a liaison officer to cultivate when dealing with the Chinese. Matsuyama ha spread his forces widely, over a near 60 mile sector, thus he would be unable to perform mobile operations and was gradually shifting to a defense of the Kaolikung mountain range by the 20th. This allowed the 53rd Army to continue their advance and the New 39th to retake Hemushu. By late May, with the 198th Division apparently contained on the north, Kurashige then rushed with the 113th Regiment to reinforce the Tiantouzhai front, where they successfully stopped the 53rd Army on its tracks. Yet on June 1st, the 54th Army, emerged in the Shweli valley from Ta-tang-tzu pass to join the 593rd Regiment from the Ma-mien pass. Next day the Chinese occupied Chieh-tou village and began patrolling the Shweli valley. They took the advice of Y Force officers and donned Burmese clothes. So disguised, they found it easy to enter Japanese-held villages. When taken by surprise, the Japanese were willing to abandon many of their outer defenses. With TNT charges dropped by the 27th Troop Carrier's C-47's when the weather cleared, the 198th Division also blew up the last pillboxes at Chai-kung-tang on June 13th. When the last shots had been fired and the Chinese farmer boys of the 54th Army reported the area secure, there was bewilderment at finding only 75 Japanese bodies in defenses that must have been manned by at least 300 men, and shock and nausea when the Japanese kitchens revealed how the defenders had been able to prolong their stay. Pitiful and ghastly evidence showed that the Japanese had resorted to cannibalism when their rations failed. On June 14th the Japanese further quit Chiao-tou-chieh, leaving many stores to the 2nd Reserve and 36th Divisions. In the end, the Kurashige Detachment would pull back to Watien while the Inose Battalion retreated towards Kutungchieh. General Wei then ordered the 71st Army to cross the Salween, just below the Huitung Bridge to attack Longling while a containing force attacked the strong Japanese harrison at Lameng. 20,000 troops of the 71st would cross the river by June 5th. At this time the 76th division left a regiment to besiege Pinga while the bulk pushed on to attack Matsuyama's HQ at Mangshi, while the 9th Division crossed the Salween, cutting off Pingda's line of communication. On June 4th, the new 28th Division attacked Lameng and forced Major Kanemitsu Keijirous garrison to retreat into the Mount Song fortress where they would hold out for several months. While the New 28th held down Kanemitsu, the 87th Division continued towards Longling, joining up with the 88th on June 8th to begin a siege of the main Japanese position on the Yunnan front. The Japanese still held onto the Burma Road east of Lung-ling, but as of June 7th the 87th Division had covered about two thirds of the distance along the Burma Road from the river to Lung-ling. The Chinese had to deal with small Japanese tanks, which had some moral effect but failed to halt the Chinese advance. Indeed, the latter had been fairly swift, for the Chinese had surprised the Japanese, and had been able to ease their supply problems by the capture of some Japanese rice depots.  To meet the new crisis, Matsuyama dispatched the 1st battalion, 119th regiment to stop the 2nd army at Xiangdaxiang and then attack Longling from the south. Matsuyama ordered Colonel Matsui Hideji to immediately relieve Longling from the north; and for the Yamazaki Composite Group to keep the Mangshi-Longling road open. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Song Xilian, had been making some progress against Longling's two outer heights, the stout defenders would manage to repel the uncoordinated Chinese assaults for about a week. Four days of un-coordinated infantry attacks, with little artillery support, failed to carry the three mountains inside Lung-ling, and there was nothing to show for the heavy drain on the 71st Army's ammunition stocks. This gave more time for Matsuyama's reinforcements to arrive by June 14th. On the 15th Matsui launched a heavy attack, in coordination with the besieged defenders, successfully defeating the 71st Army and consequently driving the Chinese from the vicinity of Longling. The Japanese had thus been able to drive back 10000 Chinese effectives by an attack with only 1500.  Repeated attempts by American liaison personnel with the 71st Army to learn how a small Japanese garrison could drive back a Chinese army group only brought embarrassed smiles from Chinese officers. The Chinese finally related on June 25th that the 261st Regiment had bolted, and that the commanding general of the 87th Division had attempted suicide. When fuller details of the fighting around Longling were available, anger and annoyance spread from Y Force to the Generalissimo himself. Y Force personnel considered the Chinese decision to withdraw from Longling inexcusable because the 11th Army Group had sent forward no reinforcements to meet the initial Japanese counterattacks. Of 21 battalions in the Longling vicinity on June 14th, only 9 took part in the fighting. In describing the defensive attitude of the 259th Regiment, as an example of the conduct that had cost the chance of a speedy breakthrough into Burma, one American liaison officer wrote: "From the time that we crossed the river until we reached Longling, the regimental commander continually had his troops in the rear digging emplacements and trenches in the fear that they would have to retreat." Yet that is it for the Yunnan battle for now as we need to head over to the Kamaing area. General Tanaka's 18th Division were withdrawing with the 22nd and 38th division in hot pursuit. To the south the Seton Roadblock was being held by 112th Regiment, threatening to thwart Tanaka's plans. Coming to their aid, General Sun sent his 113th and 114th Regiments to descend upon Lawa, where General Aida began an unauthorized retreat on June 4th. The abandonment of Lawa severely affected the defense of Kamaing, thus General Aida was relieved of command and replaced with Colonel Imaoka Soshiro. Colonel Shoshiro immediately began to dig in at Lagawng. Meanwhile the bulk of the 55th and 56th regiments were holding onto the Nanyaseik area as General Liao's 65th regiment cut their withdrawal route off on June 1st. While the rest of the 22nd Division were applying pressure from the north, the heavily outnumbered Japanese had no choice but to quickly cut a trail southeast, finally withdrawing on june 7th. Their retreat was chaotic, both regiments lost contact with each other and with their subordinate units as they made separate ways towards Kamaing. It would only be the 3rd battalion, 56th regiment who would arrive at Kamaing by June 10th, most of the others would reach Lakatkawng in late june. While retreating, their artillery units were intercepted by the pursuing Chinese and the artillerymen chose to die with their guns. While the 22nd Division and 149th Regiment thus pushed towards Kamaing, General Sun had also sent the 113th Regiment to take Zigyun and the 114th Regiment to advance southwards and support the Chindit assault on Mogaung. The Chinese were able to encircle Kamaing from the west, north and east as the 149th Regiment then moving across the fields and into Kamaing to take the settlement on June 16th,  pushing Tanaka's battle-weary troops to the hills south and west of Kamaing. Meanwhile Brigadier Calbert was able to reach the Mogaung area by the start of June. 12 miles from Mogaung, Calvert's forward troops began to run into Japanese patrols and snipers. Despite taking losses, the 3/6th Gurkhas led by Colonel Claude Rome, who in his previous incarnation had been overlord of “Broadway,” pushed on, seizing the western heights overlooking Mogaung on May 31. On June 1st, Calvert's South Staffords linked up with Rome and the Gurkhas at the village of Loihinche. Other elements of the brigade reached the southern foothills of the heights, three miles south of the town, on June 2 and went straight into the fray. That same day, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the South Staffords also attacked Lakum (held by some ordnance troops and a field hospital). The leading force of Fusiliers was soon pinned down by heavy fire, the impasse only broken when a Bren gunner in the leading rifle section went wild, and ran “straight up the hill, firing from the hip and screaming curses at the Japanese.” Softening up the Japanese with airstrikes from Air Commando Mustangs, troops of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers and 1st South Staffordshires attacked and wrested Lakum village away from Japanese and occupied the summit of the range of hills overlooking the city, to the northwest.  Calvert decided he would need to build a base akin to White City, where he could collect supplies and build an airstrip to take out the wounded. Calvert fixed his eye on the village of Lakum, occupying a strategic spot on the eastern foothills of the heights overlooking the Mogaung plain. Upon capturing the village, the Chindits would also find substantial ammunition, a field hospital and buildings which had obviously hosted several Japanese headquarters. The country leading up to Lakum, however, was hard stuff. It was in the midst of thick jungle intersected by deep ravines. The path proved difficult to follow as it sometimes wound along a ridge and sometimes went straight up or straight down. The place was a defender's paradise. “A handful of resolute men could hold successive hill-tops for hours against a large force such as ours overburdened with mules and heavy stores,”. In response to the new threat, Colonel Okada Hakuji rushed over with some units of his 128th Regiment to protect Mogaung, leaving his 1st Battalion to face the rapidly-approaching 114th Regiment and immediately recalling his 3rd Battalion from Seton. Alongside this General Honda ordered General Takeda to turn back from Myitkyina and instead secure the Moguang-Kameing area. Thus the chance to lift the siege of Myitkyina was lost. By June 3rd, the Chindits had built a new airstrip near the Tapaw Ferry, allowing airdrops of supplies and equipment to spill in. Calvert was now ready to launch his attack.  Early on June 8th, the 1st South Staffords set off to secure the Pinhmi. The village was defended by elements of 3rd battalion, 128th regiment who were also protecting some ammunition dumps in the area. The Staffords routed the Japanese and destroyed the dumps, clearing the way to the bridge. By now it was afternoon, and they stepped aside to let the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers move on to capture the 150-foot-long bridge. All seemed well until a hail of gunfire shattered the silence, tearing into the Fusiliers. Two companies were pinned down in the ditch while another was in the jungle further down. At about 6 pm, Calvert arrived at the front to confer with Major David Monteith of the attacking company. It was decided that two platoons, under the cover of a mortar barrage would dash across the bridge and secure the other bank. Calvert's mind went to the 4.2” mortars. He intended to use them to deadly effect now. Two platoons of Fusiliers moved in on the bridge, with one platoon attempting to move along the ditch, only to struggle against the thick, waist-high grass, as the second slipped off the road into the jungle. The mortars, about 60 yards behind them, began firing, slowly at first, but then as fast as the men could drop bombs into the tubes. The men, with fixed bayonets, charged across the bridge. The Japanese waited until the British were halfway across before opening fire. Tracers filled that little space, bullets tearing into flesh. The Chindits toppled left and right. Some crawled in their bellies, trying to get just far enough to throw their grenades upon the enemy positions. By 6.15, it was all over, the retreat was called. Calvert summoned US airstrikes. Mustangs swooped in, bombing and machine-gunning the enemy emplacements, but one Mustang mistakenly bombed a group of Fusiliers unloading mules. Because of the unexpected opposition, Calvert would instead direct his forces to ford the Wettauk Chaung and take Mahaung and Ywathitgale, which successfully fell on June 9. The following morning, a Gurkha company attacked towards Kyaingyi and the railway to create the impression that the main attack would come from this direction while the bulk of the 3/6th Gurkhas made a wide right flank advance to attack the bridge from the rear. At dawn on the 10th, Shaw's Gurkhas moved forward, waist deep in marsh water and mud. The bridge assault party was under the command of Captain Michael Allmand, a one-time cavalryman commissioned into the Indian Army in 1942 after escaping from Singapore. Allmand moved his men forward warily. The approaches to the bridge were narrow with the road up on a high embankment with swampy, tree-heavy low-ground flanking both sides. Coming in from the marsh, the Gurkhas set upon the bunkers at the bridge with grenades and small-arms fire, but the Japanese held their ground. At 10 am, they tried again, shooting and hurling grenades from amid waist-deep mud of the Wettauk. Allmand, who was close to shore charged. Throwing grenades to scatter the enemy, he closed in to kill three with his kukri. Rallied by his heroism, the Gurkhas rushed the remaining defenders, capturing the bridge. About 35 Japanese were killed at the bridge and the Gurkhas captured one medium machinegun and two light machineguns. In return, Chindit casualties in the encirclement and capture of the Pinhmi Bridge came to about 130 killed and wounded. By mid-afternoon, Calvert had deployed two battalions up on the Mogaung-Pinhmi Road, while a third occupied the bridge area. Conquering the brigade saw the Chindits suffer 130 casualties, while Okada's troops had also suffered heavy casualties, yet they had successfully delayed the Chindit advance for four days, which allowed Takeda to bring the bulk of his forces back into Mogaung. Knowing full well that the Japanese had been able to reinforce Mogaung, Calvert decided to wait for the arrival of the Chinese troops that Stilwell had sent to reinforce him; but in the meantime, he launched a successful attack against the courthouse on June 11, followed by a failed advance towards the river. To secure his right flank, Calvert had decided to send a company of South Staffords under a new replacement officer, Major “Archie” Wavell Jr, son of the venerable Viceroy, to secure the area between the road and the Mogaung River. The Staffords made good headway, but near the river, they came under heavy fire from entrenched Japanese. Wavell was hit in the wrist, the bullet almost taking the hand off; and he was then pulled out of the line and walked back to the field hospital near Gurkha village, clutching onto his hand, which was now hanging on by a sinew. That night, the surgeons at Gurkha Village were to remove the hand entirely. Wavell Jr's war was over. In the end, the Staffords also had to pull back towards the road after the loss of their commanding officer. By June 15th,  the Chinese had still not appeared, thus the Chindits ultimately had to withdraw to Pinhmi.  Back over at Myitkyina artillery was arriving by air. Two batteries plus one platoon of 75-mm. howitzers; two 105-mm., and two 155-mm. howitzers, were landed. All except two pieces with GALAHAD were kept under headquarters control. During the siege they fired 600 tons of ammunition, very rarely with massed fire. Boatner renewed his offensive on June 13th, sending almost all his forces to attack the town from all directions. The American-Chinese forces would struggle to make much progress against General Minakami's defenses. Utilizing a system of night attack and daylight defense, heavy casualties were consequently inflicted on the enemy and large supplies of weapons and ammunition were captured and used in the defense of the city. On June 12th the Japanese hit a platoon of K Company, New GALAHAD, so hard that the company broke and re-formed on the L Company line. The portion of the Japanese thrust that hit the perimeter next to the river made most of the men "take off," but two stayed in place and repelled the Japanese with an automatic rifle and a machine gun. To the west of this little break the Japanese worked their way in close but were stopped by grenades and small arms fire. As a result of the attacks, however, the 3rd Galahad Battalion had cut the Maingna ferry road and reached the Irrawaddy north of Myitkyina by June 17th, with the 150th and 88th Regiments also gaining up to 200 yards. The allies needed to capture the Myitkyina-Mogaung-Sumprabum road junction; but for such few gains, Boatner had lost many men and thus had to stop his attacks on June 18th. Stilwell ordered the end of all infantry attacks. Boatner replied that he would stop attacking Japanese positions until ". . . our troops are steadied and a favorable opportunity presents itself." There was reason for the troops to need steadying. A and B companies, 209th Engineers, were cut off from their main body by infiltrating Japanese. Trying to close in on them, Company C and Headquarters and Service Companies were in turn halted by Japanese. The condition of A and B Companies became critical during June 14th, for they had only one meal with them. Two of their men managed to work their way back to the block on the Sumprabum Road with news of their plight, but enemy small arms fire prevented airdrops. The isolated companies finally made their way back in small groups to the rest of the battalion over 15 and 16 June. The 3rd Battalion of GALAHAD reported trouble in effecting reorganization and enforcing orders. The Americans were not alone in their problems. Two companies of the Chinese 2/42nd which had made a small penetration into the Japanese lines on 14 June were wiped out by counterattack that night. These setbacks emphasized the nature of the Myitkyina fighting. The Allies held a ring of battalion and regimental strongpoints enclosing a similar Japanese system. Though the Allied strongpoints were close enough for the troops in one to sortie to the aid of another should that be needed, they were not so close that interlocking fire could be put down to close the gaps. Consequently, there was plenty of room for maneuver and ambush, and the inexperienced engineers and New GALAHAD troops often suffered at the hands of General Minakami's veterans. On the other hand, the Myitkyina Garrison did not emerge entirely unscathed, as they too suffered heavily, losing approximately 1000 men during the month of June alone. But that is all for today with the CBI theater as we now need to head over to New Guinea to start the Battle of Lone Tree Hill. After the fall of Wakde, General Tagami had sent Colonel Yoshino Naoyasu's 223rd Regiment to cross the Tor River inland to attack Arare while Colonel Matsuyama Soemon's 224th Regiment attacked the Toem area from the other side. In the meantime, General Doe's 163rd Regiment patrolled across Tementoe Creek and the Tor River, encountering heavy Japanese resistance at Maffin but successfully repelling some enemy counterattacks. While the 163rd strengthened its defenses on the Tor and at Arare, Doe would also see the arrival of Colonel Prugh Herndon's 158th Regiment on May 21. General Krueger's plan was to use this regiment in a vigorous overland drive toward Sarmi, aimed at throwing the enemy into the defensive and therefore securing the Wakde area. This decision was based upon scanty and incomplete information concerning Japanese strength and dispositions. The Japanese had no intention of abandoning Sarmi and the two airstrips between the town and the Tor without a desperate struggle.  The Americans were also finalizing their plans for an operation against Biak, codenamed Hurricane. General Fuller's plan was to land the 186th Regiment in the Bosnek area at 7:45 on May 27th to secure the Green Beaches and its two jetties. Once the two jetties were secured, LCI's bearing the 162nd Infantry, supporting troops, and the task force reserve were to move inshore and unload. LST's were also to move to the jetties when the beach area surrounding them had been cleared by the 186th Infantry. LCM's bearing artillery, tanks, and engineering equipment were to move to the beaches as soon as channels through the coral were found or made, or to the jetties in waves following the 186th Infantry's assault companies. As soon as it reorganized ashore, the 162nd Infantry was to advance rapidly west along the coast from Bosnek to seize the three airdromes. This drive was to be supported by eight tanks of the 603rd Tank Company and the 146th Field Artillery Battalion. The fields were to be repaired quickly to accommodate one fighter group and then expanded to receive an additional fighter group, a heavy bomber group, a reconnaissance group, a night fighter squadron, and one photo reconnaissance squadron. Mokmer Drome was to be the first field developed. Brigadier-General Edwin Patrick would also replace Doe in command of the Tornado Task Force, as the latter would resume its duties as assistant commander of the 41st Division. Admiral Fechteler's Task Force 77 was to provide naval support and cover the assault shipping. Naval fire support was to begin at H minus 45 minutes, 6:30. From that time until H Hour, cruisers and destroyers were to expend 400 rounds of 8-inch, 1,000 rounds of 6-inch, 3,740 rounds of 5-inch, and 1,000 rounds of 4.7-inch ammunition on targets in the airfield area west of the landing beaches. After H Hour the cruisers were to continue intermittent fire on the airfields, bombard targets of opportunity, and respond to calls for support from the forces ashore. Because there were many known or suspected Japanese gun emplacements along the south shore of Biak, counterbattery fire was to take precedence over all other types of fire. Bombardment of the landing beaches was also to begin at H minus 45 minutes. Five destroyers were to bombard the beaches and adjacent areas until H minus 30 minutes, when they were to move westward to join the cruisers firing on the airfield area. Then four other destroyers were to continue beach bombardment until H minus 3 minutes. Total ammunition allowance for beach bombardment was 4,900 rounds of 5-inch and 4.7-inch shells, while 40-mm. and 20-mm. ammunition was to be expended at the discretion of individual ship commanders. Rocket and automatic weapons fire from three rocket-equipped LCI's and two SC's was to provide close support for the assault waves. This fire was to begin at H minus 5 minutes and was to last until H Hour or until the initial wave was safely ashore. Meanwhile General Kenney would toss 52 B-24's to bomb the beaches just before the landings. Additionally, medium bombers and fighters from 5th Air Force would cover the force from the air; and from May 17th onwards, the bombings on Biak's airfields would increase sharply in violence to soften up its defenses. As elsewhere along the absolute defense zone perimeter, primary emphasis was laid upon the construction of airfields. Between December 1943 and the enemy invasion of Hollandia in April 1944, two of three projected fields on southern Biak were completed and put into operational use by planes of the Navy's 23rd Air Flotilla. Their usefulness ended almost immediately, however, when the enemy's vastly superior air forces began operating from Hollandia bases. As in the Wakde-Sarmi sector, the concentration of effort on airfield construction until the Hollandia invasion resulted in dangerously delaying the preparation of ground defenses against enemy amphibious attack. In the five weeks which elapsed between the Hollandia and Biak invasions, the Biak garrison forces, under able leadership and by dint of desperate effort, succeeded in organizing a system of strong cave positions, which proved highly effective after the enemy landing. However, time, equipment and manpower were so short that defensive preparations could not entirely be completed. Some 15-cm naval guns, brought to Biak immediately after the Hollandia invasion to strengthen the coast defenses, were still unmounted when the island was attacked. On May 23rd, the 158th advanced west from the Tor River Bridgehead. The advance of Company L met increasingly strong resistance. Japanese defenses were centered around three small, brush-bordered lakes near the beach about 1,800 yards west of the Tor. The rest of the 3rd Battalion, 158th Infantry, across the Tor before 1130, quickly moved forward to assist Company L, which had been pinned down along the main coastal track west of the lakes by Japanese machine gun and rifle fire. Company K pushed up to the left flank of Company L, while Company I moved toward L's rear. With the aid of mortar fire from the 81-mm. weapons of Company M, Companies K and L were able to push gradually forward during the afternoon, advancing on a front about 400 yards wide. Finding that the attack was not progressing as rapidly as he had expected, Colonel Herndon ordered his 1st Battalion across the Tor. The 1st Battalion did not start moving until 1400 and could not get far enough forward to join the attack before dark. Tanks would probably have been of great help to the 3rd Battalion, but by the time the mediums of the 1st Platoon, 603rd Tank Company, moved across the Tor, the forward infantry troops had already halted for the night. In the end, Companies L and K would dig in for the night across the main coastal track about 400 yards east of Maffin.  The following morning, after an ineffective mortar and artillery bombardment, Herndon resumed the attack. Despite the lack of extended artillery support, Companies K and L moved out as planned at 7:30. Company L, on the right, advanced along the beach encountering only scattered rifle fire but Company K, on the main road, had hardly started when Japanese machine gun and rifle fire from concealed positions in a wooded area on the left front halted its advance. Unable to gain any ground, Company K called for tank support. Two tanks, together with a flamethrower detachment from Company B of the 27th Engineers, arrived at Company K's lines about 1000. With the flamethrowers and tanks blasting the way, the infantrymen overran the Japanese defenses, killing ten of the enemy and capturing two machine guns. The remainder of the Japanese force, probably originally some forty men strong, disappeared into the jungle south of the road, whence scattered rifle fire continued to harass Company K. Company L reached the outskirts of Maffin No. 1 about 1400. The movement had been slow, not as a result of Japanese opposition but because the battalion commander did not believe it prudent for Company L to advance far beyond Company K. Despite the return of two companies, most of Colonel Kato's engineers would have to withdraw behind the Tirfoam River against such heavy firepower. Captain Saito's reconnaissance unit, meanwhile, retreated to the jungles south of Maffin alongside one engineer company, which was under Kato himself.  Over the Tirfoam River, however, the Americans were again stopped by the tenacious engineers, which again forced Herndon to request tank support. As the tanks moved into position elements of the Right Sector Force, comprising Captain Saito's men of the 1st Battalion, 224th Infantry and an engineer company, charged out of the jungle. The Japanese were under Colonel Kato, Right Sector Force commander, who was killed as he personally led a small detachment against the American tanks. The enemy was quickly thrown back with heavy losses by the combined fire of the four tanks and Company L's riflemen and machine gunners. However, under cover of their infantry attack, the Japanese had dragged a 37-mm. anti-tank gun forward out of the jungle. As the enemy infantrymen withdrew to the southwest after the death of Colonel Kato, the anti-tank gun opened fire. It was soon destroyed and its crew killed, but not before three of the American tanks had been so damaged that they had to be withdrawn for repairs. Facing such heavy resistance, Herndon then sent his 1st Battalion to carry out a deep envelopment to the south across the Tirfoam, yet these troops would similarly be unable to break through by nightfall. After killing 28 men and wounded 75 others, Kato's force allowed Tagami to dispatch the 2nd Battalion, 223rd Regiment to reinforce the Ilier Mountains line. On the morning of May 25, Major Matsuoka Yasake also arrived there with an infantry company to assume command of the remainder of Kato's forces. Meanwnhile Yoshino had crossed the Tor River, 3 days behind schedule and to the east, Matsyuama was assembling on the right bank of the Tementoe River. Herndon relieved his 1st Battalion with the 3rd and then pushed west with the 2nd Battalion following behind them. The next objective for the 158th was Long Tree Hill. Lone Tree Hill, known to the Japanese as Mt. Ilier,  had been named for a single tree which was depicted on its crest by the map then employed by the Americans. Actually, the hill's coral mass was covered with dense rainforest and jungle undergrowth. Lone Tree Hill was about 175 feet high, 1200 yards long north to south, and 1100 yards wide east to west. The north side dropped steeply to a rocky shore on Maffin Bay. The hill's eastern slope was fronted by a short, violently twisting stream which was promptly dubbed the "Snaky River" by the 158th Regiment. The main road curved away from the beach to pass south of the Snaky River and Lone Tree Hill through a narrow defile. The southern side of this defile was formed by two noses of Mt. Saksin , a terrain feature about 100 feet higher than Lone Tree Hill. The more westerly of these noses was named "Hill 225", known to the Japanese as Mt. Sento after its height in feet. No name was given to the eastern ridge line, which pointed toward Lone Tree Hill from the southeast. There was a small native village at the eastern entrance to the defile and another at the pass's western outlet. Mt. Saksin was a name given to an indefinitely outlined hill mass which forms the northern extremity of the Irier Mountains, extending inland from the coast at Lone Tree Hill. The name Saksin was specifically applied to a prominent peak about 2,000 yards due south of Lone Tree. On or about May 23rd General Tagami had moved his headquarters into the Mt. Saksin area, apparently on the southwest side of the central peak.  Herndon forces continued the advance through the abandoned enemy positions, albeit without tank support, for they could not cross the fragile Tirfoam bridge. In the afternoon, the Americans were finally halted below the southernmost bend of the Snaky River, subjected to heavy machine-gun fire and an intermittent artillery bombardment. General Patrick, who had succeeded to the command of the TORNADO Task Force during the morning, was informed of the opposition encountered by the 1st Battalion. He ordered the advance stopped for the night and instructed the 158th Infantry to remain well east of the Snaky River so that American artillery could register on the native village and the defile without endangering the forward troops. Harassed by a few artillery shells, which by now had been recognized as originating from Japanese 70-mm. or 75-mm. weapons, the 1st Battalion pulled back about 500 yards east of the Snaky. A perimeter was set up with the battalion's left resting on the road and its right on the beach. The 2nd Battalion established a series of company perimeters back along the road to the east. Casualties for the day had been 22 men killed and 26 wounded, almost all in the 1st Battalion, while about 50 Japanese had been killed. When the attack orders for the day had been issued, it had been hoped that the 1st Battalion could reach the top of Lone Tree Hill before nightfall. Since the unexpectedly strong enemy opposition had prevented the realization of this hope, plans were made to continue the advance westward on the 26th. The ultimate objective was the east bank of the Woske River, 2,000 yards west of Lone Tree Hill, and the intermediate objective was the native village at the eastern entrance to the defile. The advance was to be preceded by naval shelling of the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill from 6:30 to 7:00. A fifteen-minute artillery preparation was also to precede the advance, and the infantry was to start moving at 8:45. The next morning, naval fire started ten minutes late. Two destroyers lying offshore shelled the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill and the Maffin Bay area, firing on known or suspected enemy defensive positions and assembly points. After a twenty-minute bombardment the two support vessels withdrew. Artillery fire did not begin until 8:30. The time lag gave the Japanese ample opportunity to prepare for the infantry attack which had been heralded by the destroyer fire. The artillery, aiming its shells into the defile and against the eastern slopes of Lone Tree Hill, ceased firing about 8:45. A few moments later the 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, Company B again leading, started moving westward. The infantry's line of departure was nearly 1,000 yards east of the village at the southeast foot of Lone Tree Hill, and the advance had to be slow because the road ran through heavily jungled terrain. The enemy therefore had sufficient time to reoccupy positions in the defile and on Lone Tree Hill which might have been vacated during the American artillery barrage. The value of both the naval and artillery bombardment had been lost. Herndon's 1st Battalion moved once again against Lone Tree Hill. Company B moved forward to the point at which it had been held up the previous afternoon and was again stopped--this time by fire from the southeastern corner of Lone Tree Hill. Company D's heavy machine guns were brought up to spray a densely wooded area in front of the point rifle platoon. The fire dispersed the Japanese riflemen, and Company B moved forward again. Less than 100 yards of ground had been gained when the company again encountered machine gun and mortar fire originating in the native village. Company A, initially off the road to the right rear of Company B, turned north to the mouth of the Snaky River. One platoon crossed at the river mouth at 1030 but was quickly forced back to the east bank by Japanese machine gun fire from the rocky beach below the north face of Lone Tree Hill. Artillery support was called for, supplied, and proved successful in stopping the enemy fire, and about 1:50 all Company A crossed the Snaky. Orders were to move down the west side of that stream to establish contact with Company B and to send one platoon up the eastern slope of Lone Tree Hill to probe enemy positions. Other efforts were meanwhile being made to scatter the Japanese opposing Company B. Company E moved up to the left flank of Company B and on the south side of the main road. The combined efforts of the two rifle companies proved insufficient to dislodge the Japanese from their positions at the eastern entrance to the defile, and the enemy fire forced the American units to seek cover. Company F was therefore ordered to pass through B's left flank and proceed to Hill 225 to take the Japanese positions from the rear. Company F's attack could not be started before dark and Company A, moving up the west side of the Snaky, was unable to relieve much of the pressure on Company B. Finally, Company A was forced for a second time to withdraw to the east bank of the river as a result of enemy fire from Lone Tree Hill. Tanks would have been of great help to Company B, but the bridge over the Tirfoam could not bear their weight, and the road west of the stream was in such disrepair that tanks probably could not have negotiated it. Only Company A would manage to cross the Snaky River through much effort, yet it would be unable to relieve the pressure from Company B's front and would have to retreat by the end of the day. To prevent further casualties from being inflicted by Japanese patrols, which were expected to roam around the flanks of the forward elements during the night, a semicircular perimeter was ultimately established. Although Herndon's attacks on May 26th had been completely unsuccessful, the 158th Regiment had located and probed some of the principal Japanese defenses in the area and could now be ready to launch a more effective assault.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Vinegar Joe was experiencing some major setbacks, but it looked like Myitkyina was as good as his. However the American officers' reports of how difficult the going was for the Chinese was quite disheartening. Over in New Guinea, the allies were yet again faced with a great obstacle, now in the form of One Tree Hill.

In honor of National Nurses Day (May 6, 2024) and National Nurses Week (May 6-12, 2024), this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, focuses on medics and nurses in combat. Hear about WWII combat nurse Lt. Avis Schorer (nee Dagit) who served with an evacuation hospital in North Africa and Italy; and Alfred Velazquez Rascon, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a medic near Long Khánh Province during the Vietnam War. Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books including "The Combat Diaries: True Stories from the Frontlines of World War II." His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/   Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://mike-guardia-military-monday.podbean.com/

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Army SFC (Ret) Krendra Harralson.  Krendra grew up in Tacoma, WA and attended Lincoln High School.  As a Sophomore, she joined the school's JROTC program.  During her Junior year, she signed a contract with the WA National Guard at 17, and attended Army Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, SC during the summer before her Senior year in High School.  After graduating in 1998, she completed her AIT at Ft. Sam Houston, TX as a 92B Medic. Her first assignment was with the WA NG Aviation unit as a Traditional Guardsman until Aug 2000.  Then she enlisted in the Active Duty Army and was assigned to Wiesbaden, Germany with the 557th Ground Ambulance Company in 2003.  Her next assignment was to the 4th Engineer Battalion at Ft. Carson, CO.  In 2009 her unit was deployed to Taji, Iraq.  During that deployment, her unit was relocated to Kandahar, Afghanistan where she was battlefield promoted to SSG in 2010.  A year later, SSG Harralson was assigned to the 555th Engineer Brigade at Ft. lewis, WA.  Her last assignment was to Ft. Sam Houston, TX in 2016 and she retired in 2018. After retiring, Krendra competed in the Ms. Veteran America through the non-profit Final Salute Inc.  Later, she received the appointed title of Mrs. Texas 2024 and will be competing for Mrs. USA at Omaha, NE in Aug 2024.  To find out more about Krendra's journey and how you can help, please visit the links below: Final Salute Inc.  https://www.finalsaluteinc.org/Home.html Love Without Boundaries. https://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093336497504 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/krendra_harralson/

Featuring award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show focuses on the tragic Oklahoma City bombing, a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perpetrated by anti-government extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing occurred on April 19, 1995, and killed 168 people, injured 680, and destroyed more than one-third of the building, which had to be demolished. Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books. His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/ Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb PHOTO: Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum by travel writer Debbie Stone. See her story about her visit to the Memorial and other sites in OKC, here: https://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/surprises-abound-in-oklahoma-city/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Featuring award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show focuses on the tragic Oklahoma City bombing, a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perpetrated by anti-government extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing occurred on April 19, 1995, and killed 168 people, injured 680, and destroyed more than one-third of the building, which had to be demolished.   Mike Guardia is the author of over 20 other military history books. His latest book is the Amazon best-seller, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/     Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb  PHOTO: Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum by travel writer Debbie Stone. See her story about her visit to the Memorial and other sites in OKC, here: https://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/surprises-abound-in-oklahoma-city/ 

In honor of Women's History Month, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who discusses the life and legacy of Julia Compton Moore, the wife of Lieutenant General Hal Moore. During the Vietnam War, Julia worked with the US Army to set up survivor support networks and casualty notification teams consisting of uniformed officers, which are still in use. Along with over 20 other military history books, Mike Guardia is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. He is also the author of "Hal Moore on Leadership," and "Hal Moore: A Life in Puctures." His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/ Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honor of Women's History Month, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who discusses the life and legacy of Julia Compton Moore, the wife of Lieutenant General Hal Moore. During the Vietnam War, Julia worked with the US Army to set up survivor support networks and casualty notification teams consisting of uniformed officers, which are still in use.  Along with over 20 other military history books, Mike Guardia is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. He is also the author of "Hal Moore on Leadership," and "Hal Moore: A Life in Puctures." His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/  Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb 

U.S. Army 15th Engineer Battalion and its Polish Allies break ground at the opening ceremony for the U.S. Army Europe-led Resolute Castle 20 at Karliki, Poland, August 13, 2020. The mission is a U.S. Army Europe engineering exercise occurring from August 10 – September 8, 2020; it provides engineering training opportunities with the mission of completing construction projects intended to improve existing host nation infrastructure, which includes the construction of an intermediate staging base, forward arming and refueling point maintenance, the clearing of a helicopter landing zone, and the improvement of a railhead byway and range road at Camp Trezbien, Poland. Additionally, the improvements will include the construction of a general purpose warehouse in Karliki, Poland, and the construction of a fuel system supply point at Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland. (U.S. Army video by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hughes and Pfc. Raekwon Jenkins) Order of appearance: U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jessica Goffena, commander, 15th Engineer Battalion; Polish Land Forces Maj. Krzysztof Krezel, chief of training of Training Assessment Group; U.S. Army Col. Timothy MacDonald, commander, 18th Military Police Brigade; and U.S. Army Sgt. Joe Ruiz, horizontal engineer, 902nd Engineer Construction Company, 15th Engineer Battalion

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Feb. 13 at 7:15 a.m. CT: HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Parts of the Northeast are preparing for a coastal storm that's expected to dump a foot or more of snow and pack 60 mph winds in some areas. Hazardous driving conditions, school closings and flight cancellations are predicted for when the storm hits Tuesday, along with possible power outages. The nation’s largest school system in New York City said it was switching classes to remote learning and closing its buildings for the day. Boston schools will be closed. Non-essential Massachusetts state employees were told not to go to their workplaces. Some of the highest snowfall totals, 12 to 15 inches, were forecast for the northern New York City suburbs and southwestern Connecticut. NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed and five others wounded following a dispute between two groups of teenagers at a New York City subway station Monday at the start of the evening rush hour. The gunfire broke out on an elevated train platform in the Bronx at around 4:30 p.m. Monday, a time when stations throughout the city are filled with kids coming home from school and many workers are beginning their evening commute. Officials say a 34-year-old man was killed. The wounded included a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, and three adults, ages 28, 29 and 71. Authorities said some of the victims were believed involved in the dispute and others were waiting for the train. ATLANTA (AP) — Family and friends are gathering in Georgia this week as funerals begin for three Army Reserve soldiers killed in a recent drone attack in Jordan. A funeral is scheduled Tuesday for 46-year-old Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers at a church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. Services for Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah and Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross, Georgia, are planned for Saturday. The three citizen-soldiers received posthumous promotions after they were were killed in a Jan. 28 drone attack on a U.S. base near Jordon's border with Syria. They were assigned to the Army Reserve's 926th Engineer Battalion based at Fort Moore, Georgia. NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have fired tear gas and detained some farmers who tried to break barricades blocking their way to New Delhi in a protest march. The farmers want assured crop prices, in a repeat of 2021 protests when they camped on New Delhi's outskirts for more than a year. The protests forced the government to repeal agriculture laws that farmers said would harm their incomes. The government said at that time that it would set up a panel of farmers and government officials to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce. Multiple meetings since then have made no progress. The march comes months before a national election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to win a third term. NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is calling for a leadership change at the Republican National Committee in an attempt to install a new slate of loyalists — including his daughter-in-law — at the top of the GOP’s political machine even before he formally secures the party’s next presidential nomination. Trump outlined his plans on social media Monday night. They carry no official weight until he is the party’s presumed presidential nominee. Current RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel says she has no plans to leave the committee until at least after South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary election. Still, Trump is calling for McDaniel to be replaced by Michael Whatley, the North Carolina GOP chairman. The new co-chair, Trump said, should be his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has launched a task force aimed at addressing the "systemic” problem of mishandling classified information during presidential transitions. Monday's action comes days after a Justice Department special counsel’s sharply critical report said he had done just that. The Presidential Records Transition Task Force will study past transitions to determine best practices for safeguarding classified information from an outgoing administration. It will also assess the need for changes to existing policies to prevent the removal of sensitive information that by law should be kept with the National Archives and Records Administration. Special counsel Robert Hur's report listed dozens of sensitive documents found at Biden’s home in Delaware, and at his former Washington office. WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Donald Trump says he once warned that he would allow Russia to do whatever it wants to NATO member nations that are “delinquent” in devoting 2% of their gross domestic product to defense. Trump’s comment on Saturday represented the latest instance in which the former president and Republican front-runner seemed to side with an authoritarian state over America’s democratic allies. NATO members don’t pay to belong and don’t owe the organization anything other than contributions to a largely administrative fund. Trump's frequent complaint has been how much NATO countries put into their own military budgets. The 2% is a voluntary benchmark and no debt or “delinquency” is involved. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is defending its new TikTok account as a vital way to boost its appeal with young voters. It's doing so even as the Biden administration continues to raise security concerns about whether the popular social media app might be sharing user data with China’s communist government. The campaign says the president’s debut on TikTok on Sunday night has drawn more than 5 million views and counting. White House national security spokesman John Kirby says there are still national security concerns about the use of TikTok on government devices. Super Bowl ratings skyrocket, the Dallas Cowboys name their defensive coordinator, UCLA tabs its next head coach, the Rockets hang on to beat the Knicks, Jen Pawol is about to make baseball history. Correspondent Chuck Freimund reports. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A leading Democratic Virginia legislator says proposed legislation to help pave the way for the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to relocate to northern Virginia is dead. Sen. L. Louise Lucas holds great sway in the General Assembly as chair of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee. She told reporters Monday morning that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin had made a series of mistakes in trying to advance the deal through a General Assembly now in full Democratic control after November’s elections. She outlined concerns about the financing structure and said Youngkin had not been negotiating in good faith. A bill is still alive in the House of Delegates but Lucas' remarks are a major setback for the deal. NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Edwards, the news anchor many Americans woke up to as founding host of National Public Radio's “Morning Edition” for nearly a quarter-century, has died. NPR said he died Saturday at age 76, but it had no other details. Edwards joined NPR in 1974, and was the founding voice on “Morning Edition” in 1979. His authoritative baritone made many listeners feel he was older than he was. For 12 years, his interviews with sportscasting legend Red Barber were a regular feature, and they provided the foundation for Edwards' book “Friday with Red: A Radio Friendship.” He was pulled from “Morning Edition” in 2004 just before celebrating a quarter-century on the show, a move that led some listeners to protest. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s presidential ambitions resulted in public family drama after a political action committee aired a Super Bowl ad invoking the Democratic family’s legacy to implicitly compare the independent candidate to his assassinated uncle, President John F. Kennedy. The 30-second spot was financed by the American Values 2024 Super PAC that is backing Kennedy. The ad featured a shortened version of a campaign song that the 35th president used in his 1960 campaign. The spot also mimicked cartoon and newsreel effects using black-and-white pictures of Robert Kennedy Jr. similar to his uncle. One of Robert Kennedy's cousins blasted him for the spot. In a statement on social media, Kennedy apologized to any of his family members who were upset by the ad. NEW YORK (AP) — Plenty of retailers and suppliers are reducing the variety of their offerings to focus instead on what they think will sell best. Stew Leonard’s, a supermarket chain, now has 24 cereal flavors or types, down from 49 in 2019. Coca-Cola has discontinued half its drink brands to 200. Many businesses have decided less is better, justifying their limited selection by asserting shoppers don’t want so much choice. It’s also more profitable for companies because they’re not carrying over as many leftovers that need to be discounted. HOUSTON (AP) — Police say a woman in a trenchcoat opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Texas megachurch before being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her. The afternoon shooting at the Houston megachurch sent worshippers scrambling out of the building between busy Sunday services. Authorities say the woman was dead and a 5-year-old boy with her was critically wounded by gunfire. They also say a 57-year-old man was wounded. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner praised the officers for their quick actions. Osteen says the shooting could have been much worse if it had happened during the larger 11 a.m. service. WOODBURY, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut pastor has been arrested on allegations that he sold crystal meth out of his church’s rectory. Police say the reverend of a United Methodist Church in Woodbury was taken into custody Friday after authorities received a tip about the drugs. The pastor was arrested on drug and motor vehicle charges after police say a cooperating witness tipped them off and set up a purported drug deal with the reverend. The pastor was released on $10,000 bail and was ordered to appear in Waterbury Superior Court on Feb. 23. Phone and email messages were left Monday for the pastor and the church. —The Associated Press About this program Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Inspiring Journeys welcomes our first guest, Misty Johnson! Misty had suffered from crippling anxiety. This anxiety contributed to Misty not being able to go to the gym for 7 years. But now she has returned stronger than ever!  Check out this episode to find out how she did it, and learn some advice for people who struggle from anxiety, and how to overcome it. Misty has lived an incredible journey so far. Be inspired by her strength, resilience, and grit! Also, this episode is dedicated to our 22 Too Many Veteran Chuck Stayton Charles Brandon “Chuck” Stayton, 29, died Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011, at his home. He was born Aug. 25, 1981, in Benton, IL. He was a 1999 graduate from Benton Consolidated High School. He joined the U.S. Army, serving from January 2000 to August 2003 with the 82nd Airborne Division, 307 Engineer Battalion. He earned an associate degree from Rend Lake College in 2006. Chuck was an avid hunter and fisherman. Chuck loved his family and friends. He was a wonderful father and husband.   Misty can be found at: https://growwithmisty.com/ Facebook - Grow With Misty   Inspiring Journeys is now on Instagram: @InspiringJourneysPod Facebook - Inspiring Journeys and can be emailed at InspiringJourneysPod@gmail.com Kerri can be found on Instagram: @running_with_the_rockstar Facebook: Every Run Has a Story You can find Adriana at: Instagram  @SoulFriendYoga email: adriana@soulfriendyoga Soulfriendyoga.com – Use the code SOUL20 for 20% off You can find The Rhode Runner in the following places: Twitter: @TheRhodeRunner Instagram: @TheRhodeRunner Facebook You can also download and subscribe to the Journey of the Inspiring Journeys Podcast at: Apple Podcasts iHeartRadio Spotify

Last time we spoke about Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall islands. The allies brought overwhelming power against the Marshalls, unleashing the simultaneous invasions of numerous islands in an attempt to strike at the heart of the island chain at Kwajalein. The horror of the Gilbert Island campaign plagued the minds of the commanders who hoped to thwart such carnage. Airstrikes, naval bombardments and massive amounts of land based artillery smashed the Japanese defenders into submission before amphibious assaults were made. Countless islands such as Roi-Namur fell one by one as the Americans secured places to deploy further artillery to forces the ultimate submission of the defenses on Kwajalein. The casualties were light, but the fight for Kwajalein would soon descend into a bitter struggle, for the Japanese were not going to give up their stronghold without a good fight. This episode is The Fall of Kwajalein Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Operation Flintlock went off with a bang, and was initially a grand success. Aerial bombing, followed by naval bombardment and then land based artillery was smashing the Japanese defenders into submission. One by one the islands were falling into the Americans hands. On the second day of the battle, Roi-Namur, the northern objective was seized. Yet the stronghold of Kwajalein would provide much more of a fight. Back on the morning of January 28th Admiral Frederick Sherman's Task Force 58.3 landed a knockout blow against Kwajalein's airfield. Dawn saw a Hellcat fighter sweep ensure the airfield would not be tossing any further action before the amphibious assault occurred. The next day Sherman's force hit Eniwetok with the same kind of treatment. Sherman's carriers would remain off Eniwetok for 3 days while his aircraft smashed its airfields and ground installations. On the third say not much was left, just heaps of rubble and a few scattered palm trees stripped of their foliage. Sherman's airmen reported “they could not find any targets on the ground or in the lagoon that seemed worth bombing, and the island looked like a desert waste.” The warships came in on the 31st just off Roi and at 6:51am, Admiral Conolly maneuvered Maryland 2000 yards away from the northern beaches before unleashing 16 inch guns. As Holland Smith put it “So close that his guns almost poked their muzzles into Japanese positions.” By 7:15am the naval guns went silent as carrier planes came swooping in. Then 127mm artillery from Roi began firing, alongside cruisers and destroyers. Return fire occurred, but for a very short amount of time as they were snuffed out. Admiral Truman Hedding recalled “We learned a lot about softening up these islands before we sent the Marines in. We really worked that place over. They developed a tactic called the ‘Spruance haircut.' We just knocked everything down; there wasn't even a palm tree left.”  The Kwajalein atoll islands were hit with 15,000 tons of bombs and naval shells in 72hrs. Admiral Turner would make a Churchillian statement about the event “Never in the history of human conflict has so much been thrown by so many at so few.” Then transports carrying nearly 64,000 men of the 4th marine division and the 7th army division were launched at Ivan, Jacob, Allen, Andrew, Albert and Abraham islands. Once they were secured, the marines set up artillery batteries. The 7th infantry division was assigned the task of taking the banana shaped Kwajalein island as their colleagues set up 105mm and 155mm howitzers on nearby Roi-Namur. The 32nd and 184th regiments landed on the lagoon side at 9:30am on February 1st, first encountered only feeble and intermittent resistance. The eastern half of the island was secured in quick time, as the bombardments had certainly inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy. The army moved slowly and methodically, advancing cautiously against the Japanese fixed positions. Soon they reached Carl Road, where they were met with an impressive defense system consisting of an anti-tank ditch on the south and a long rifle trench on the north. As February 2nd came on, so did another wide scale smashing of the Japanese. Artillery fire on Carlson Island and from the 32nd Regiments Cannon Company in the Wart Area coordinated with the tank and infantry movements. While the new assault units were moving up, the enemy in Corn Strong Point were kept under heavy artillery bombardment and were isolated from possible reinforcements by naval gunfire. Enemy guns that were still active in the northeastern end of the island were struck by dive bombers. The jump-off was ordered for 12:45. A series of delays deferred this crucial attack over an hour. To assemble the staff and coordinate the plans for employing tanks, artillery, and infantry while the 3d Battalion made its approach march, proved difficult to arrange. The time for the assault had passed before the planning difficulties were resolved. Then came notice of an air strike to be made at 1:15pm later postponed, on Admiral Turner's order, to 1:30, thus necessitating the suspension of all artillery fire. Since the attack on Corn Strong Point was to be immediately preceded by a heavy artillery barrage, the whole operation was postponed to 2:00. For the initial assault on the tank trap and Corn Strong Point, Colonel Logie's 32d Infantry's 3d Battalion was ordered to pass through its 2nd Battalion at Carl Road and to lead the attack. These fresh troops were to be supported by the tanks of A and D comapnies, 767th Tank Battalion and, from the left flank, by the tanks of B company, which would be temporarily detached from the 184th. The tanks of A company, 767th Tank Battalion, lined up along Carl Road to fire against the strong point, while those from B company took up positions almost at right angles to that road and prepared to strike the enemy from the left flank during the first stage of the attack. One of the batteries on Carlson continued to fire during the air strike, and the Cannon Company's howitzers also laid a preparation on the target area before the advance commenced at 2pm. Then, while the artillery lifted fire to ground northeast of the target, the tanks and infantry approached the tank trap in a 225-yard advance across open ground. The tanks poured machine gun fire into the area. Thirty yards behind them the troops came forward to the shelter of the tank ditch without receiving an enemy shot. The Japanese were pinned down. The assault initially saw the Americans pin down the Japanese. While the left wing of infantry troops started to push across the wide tank barrier, the tanks on their left momentarily broke off fire from the flank. A few tanks from A company, 767th Tank Battalion, moved toward the ocean to bypass the deep ditch, and the others after a brief hesitation laid a base of fire to cover the infantry's advance. The tanks hesitated to poke out along the flimsy wooden bridge by which Wallace Road cut through the angle of the tank trap. At this stage, a concentration of white phosphorus shells commenced to fall into the area in which I company, 32nd Infantry, was moving, and countless men were burned. After hesitating briefly the infantry moved steadily to the tank ditch. There the troops remained for some time because the medium tanks pulled back claiming they could not get over the ditch. The tanks finally broke through and began to make their way to the beach smashing pillboxes in the Corn strongpoint. An estimated 100 Japanese were killed in the area, the majority by demolition charges carried forward by engineer details while rifle and BAR men covered them. Little or no defense was put up against these tactics. The Japanese remained huddled in their shelters in spite of efforts made to coax them out to surrender. Only a single prisoner was taken in the whole area. Grenades were thrown into the shelters, and those who survived were then destroyed by demolition charges. Altogether, it took about 35 minutes to reduce Corn Strong Point once the American infantry got beyond the tank trap. Contact between the forward battalion of the 32nd Infantry and that of the 184th was temporarily lost during this fray, and K company, 32nd Infantry, moved through the left platoon of I company to establish contact firmly as soon as Corn Strong Point was taken. Advance to the Nora Road line seemed practicable within the time remaining before taking defensive positions for the night. To escape spending the night in an area too heavily wooded for security, the 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry, planned to advance northeast of the junction of Nora Road and Wallace Road, even though that would place its perimeter slightly forward of the 184th's front-line elements, which were resting just short of Nora Road itself. To the north, Colonel O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion began advancing at 12:45 without tank support. F Company was on the right while E Company on the left along the lagoon. For the first 45 minutes no serious resistance was met. There were no tank obstacles in the area and the enemy's positions along the lagoon shore were less formidable than had been expected. At 1:30, however, the 184th had to lend its medium tanks to the 32nd Infantry as the latter moved against Corn Strong Point. This left the infantry unprotected at a time when they began to meet their first serious resistance. Without the tank support the infantry became stalled. The 184th suffered over 60 casualties by the end of the day, including the loss of F Company's commanding officer. O'Sullivan was forced to organize night defenses just 100 yards northeast of Carl Road, which also forced Logie to pull back to the abandoned trenches of Corn for the night. Heavy casualties were suffered that day, with 11 dead and 241 wounded. Japanese prisoners reported only 200 to 300 defenders remained, so the Americans expected a banzai charge to occur during the night. General Corlett's headquarters warned, "Be alert for counterattack at anytime day or night, it's bound to come. The Jap makes his suicide counterattack at dawn on the day after his cause becomes hopeless. Watch out tomorrow morning.” Yet there was no attach, so General Corlett prepared his men for a new assault at 07:15am. For the next day's operations, General Corlett ordered the two assault regiments: "Organize vigorous attack 0715 tomorrow… Finish the job not later than 1500 3 February. The Northern Force [at Roi-Namur] has finished the job…". At this point the Americans on Kwajalein faced a narrow 2000 yards of island. After artillery rained down at 7am, O'Sullivans 1st battalion advanced. In the first 150 yard B Company, along the lagoon, and Company A, at the right, advanced through rubble and broken trees west of Nora Road without more than scattered rifle fire from Japanese riflemen and occasional light machine gun fire from pillboxes. Their momentum carried them on for another 75 yards with such rapidity that the prospects for swift advance seemed excellent. B Company cleaned out an air raid shelter with grenades and shot down fleeing Japanese wearing arm bands like those of the American troops. Both companies were advancing over ground that had been under American mortar fire just before the jumpoff. At 8:06 enemy opposition was reported to be weak. After 250 yards the Americans reached the Admiralty area, finding a group of shattered buildings along the lagoon shore where it was believed the Japanese HQ was. Among the ruins were several underground shelters, with great earthen mounds above them. There were also concrete blockhouses.  Against strong resistance, B Company would not be able to advance further; A Company, meanwhile, pushed farther north and attempted to attack from the flank through the Admiralty area, but became quickly bogged down. At the same time, Logie sent forward his 3rd Battalion, with I Company rapidly advancing along the coast while K Company stopped to subdue a large concrete pillbox on the corner of the Admiralty area. By midday, I Company reached Noel Road and K Company successfully bypassed the Admiralty area. Yet behind them, there was a vertical gap including most of the Admiralty area between the two regiments. Thus, Corlett sent Logie's 1st Battalion to cover the gap and O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion to swing right and continue the advance north while his 1st Battalion contained and neutralized the Admiralty area. At 3:30, the new attack was launched, with Logie's 3rd Battalion rapidly smashing into the Nap strongpoint while O'Sullivan's 1st Battalion concentrated on the Admiralty area and his 2nd Battalion attacked north towards Nob Pier. E Company started its attack before those of either G Company or the 1st Battalion. At 2:40 E Company began moving northwest. Somewhat more than half an hour later E Company  crossed Noel Road, with G Company on their right. 2 medium and 2 light tanks, taken over from the 1st Battalion, moved forward with each of the companies, and each had one squad of engineer troops with demolitions. Enemy rifle fire was heavy. The men broke up into small groups, proceeding unevenly in the general direction of Nob Pier. Between 6:30 and 7:00, Captain Peter Blaettler, commander of E Company was seriously wounded. Control from the battalion command post was lost seeing the men hugging the ground to avoid sharp fire from enemy riflemen. Colonel Aulich became separated from the main part of his battalion and was to remain so until the next morning, for all intensive purposes he lost command of his unit. The 2nd Battalion's attack was pushed along the eastern side of Will Road toward Nathan Road, but as sunset approached it became evident not only that Company E would not reach Nob Pier but also that across Will Road on the left flank there was an area with many strong enemy defense positions too powerful to be occupied in the 45 minutes before dark. Meanwhile, at 3:45 A Company 1st battalion was joined by 2 medium tanks and C Company  by 2 mediums and 2 M10 tank destroyers. At 4:05 they assaulted the western edge of the built-up Admiralty area along a 300 yard front, with A Company's right wing somewhat south of Noel Road. 10 minutes later they advanced towards the lagoon. Will Road was crossed shortly after 4:30. The enemy was much more firmly established between the highway and the beach, in pillboxes, blockhouses, and strong shelters. Mortar fire kept the enemy down until the tanks and infantry approached. The coordinated effort of tanks, infantry, and demolition teams ran very smoothly, gradually destroying the pillboxes and blockhouses of the Admiralty area, successfully reaching the lagoon by 6pm.  To the east, Logie's I Company rapidly reduced the weakly-defended Nap strongpoint and then pushed forward to the objective Nathan Road with haste while the other companies made slower progress against stronger defenses and would not be able to reach their objectives before nightfall. The Japanese in the areas south of the front line, were in greater numbers than on either of the preceding nights of the Kwajalein Island operation. They prowled in the forward area all night. Some incidents occurred as far to the rear as Corn Strong Point, more than a 1000 yards from the 32nd Infantry's advanced position. Japanese came out of shelters, screaming and yelling, throwing grenades, and charging at the men in their foxholes. They fired rifles and threw grenades from buildings that offered places of advantage. In a pocket northeast of the Admiralty area, they greatly harassed the companies near them. Attacks from the north and from the lagoon shore were also attempted by enemy troops at various times during the night. Just after sunset, a bugle could be heard sounding among the enemy shelters near the base of Nob Pier, and shortly afterward a headlong counterattack by screaming Japanese was made toward E and G Companies, 184th Regiment. As the Japanese tried to cross Will Road, they were cut down to the last man. 5 more attacks were broken up before they were actually in progress by barrages along the entire front from mortars and from the supporting batteries of artillery on Carlson Island; and more attacks followed after midnight. From various positions beyond Nathan Road, enemy machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire was directed into the forward area at irregular intervals during the night, sometimes coinciding so closely with the fire from Carlson Island that Japanese monitoring of the artillery radio was suspected. Nonetheless, over 1000 yards had been gained, by February 3. The Americans estimated they had killed around 1300 Japanese, more than were expected to still be in the island, at the cost of 54 dead and 255 wounded.  After sunset, several Japanese counterattacks and infiltration attempts were carried out against the steadfast Americans, all ending disastrously. Corlett expected to end the enemy resistance by February 4; but far too many small pockets remained in the rear and the reserve battalions were experiencing difficulties rooting them out. Corlett's final plan was for Logie's 1st Battalion to clear the remainder of the island, allowing  Companies C, B and A to attack through O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion and Logie's 3rd Battalion. Unbeknownst to him, O'Sullivan also directed his 2nd Battalion to attack towards Nob Pier in order to complete the unfinished task of the previous day.  At 7:15, Corlett unleashed his final attack, supported by tanks. On the east, Logie's Companies A and B ran into a full-scale battle with the Japanese who had been bypassed the day before and who now poured heavy fire on the companies as they advanced toward the line of departure. It was not until 10:00 that the 2 1st Battalion companies reached the lines held by the 3rd Battalion. Then, the Americans successfully managed to advance 200 yards past Nathan Road, where the advance was stopped pending relief. Meanwhile, to the west, the attack of O'Sullivan's 2nd Battalion, supported by B Company , prevented the advance of Logie's C Company until 11:00. The Americans managed to push towards Nob Pier by 1:00, where they found no enemy resistance. Behind them, the lagoon shore continued to be mopped up, showcasing a surprising number of Japanese and Koreans surrendering.  All forward movement of the 1st Battalion had stopped, its line consisting of a series of small, exhausted groups in a dense confusion of debris. The ground was interlaced with innumerable trenches and foul with bodies of the enemy, many of them long dead. Some of the corpses had been mangled by maneuvering tanks, adding greatly to the nauseating stench that blighted the area. Finally, at 3:45, Logie's 2nd Battalion passed through the 1st to complete the assault along Kwajalein. These troops would successfully push to the island's northern tip, blasting through the remaining Japanese camouflaged dugouts and ruined concrete blockhouses.  As in every other island battle, Japanese stragglers had infiltrated the American lines through tunnels and overlooked bunkers, and the assault troops quickly learned to watch their backs. Nisei interpreters broadcast surrender appeals through loudspeakers, but there were only a few dozen takers, and most of the men who gave themselves up were Korean laborers. At long last, G Company reached Nero Point at 3:15. At 4:10 Corlett radioed to Admiral Turner: "All organized resistance… has ceased. The troops have been organized for mopping up operations." yet F Company, would still have to methodically destroy the enemy positions until they finally secured Kwajalein's northern end at 7:20. Ken Dodson went ashore the next morning. Writing to his wife, he described a desolate landscape of “shell craters and hillocks of upturned coral. Some of the Japanese had been dead from the first bombardment, the day before we landed. Their bodies were seared and bloated, and the stench was sickening. I saw one half buried in a pillbox. You could not tell whether he had on any clothes or not. The skin was burned off his back and his head lay a few feet from his body. Another looked like a bronze statue in Golden Gate Park. He lay forward in a crouch, helmet still on, both hands holding on to a coconut log of his pillbox. There were many, many others. I lie in bed at night remembering how they looked, and that awful sweetish sickening stench of powder, and kerosene and decaying human flesh, and I wonder, after all, what war is all about. I feel sorry for those Japs in a way. They died courageously after a stubborn, last-ditch, hopeless fight. They fought for the things they had been taught to believe in, with their poor little bundles with pictures of their wives and kiddies tied to their belts. . . . They can't tell me war is a fine and noble thing.' Losses during the last day were 252 wounded, with 65 Japanese killed and over 100 captured. Thus, for the Battle of Kwajalein Island, the Americans suffered a total of 142 killed, 845 wounded and 2 missing, killing around 4300 Japanese and capturing another 166. During the week after Operation Flintlock, numerous high ranking visitors descended on the battle-scarred islands of Kwajalein Atoll. Admiral Nimitz flew out from Pearl Harbor with an entourage of officers. On February 5, when fires were still burning on Kwajalein Island, he toured the blackened wastes alongside Spruance, Turner, Smith, and several other major commanders of the fleet and Amphibious Corps. Three weeks earlier Nimitz had been the guest of honor at a huge “Texas Picnic” in a Honolulu park. Walking among 40,000 sailors, soldiers, and civilians. He had pitched horseshoes, posed for photographs, and signed autographs. Afterward, the park looked as if it had been hit by a hurricane—clean-up crews had to cart away more than 50 truckloads of garbage and debris. An estimated 120,000 beer bottles had been left strewn across the grass. Now, upon setting foot on the lagoon beach at Kwajalein, Nimitz was waylaid by a mob of correspondents. “What do you think of the island?” one asked. The admiral drew a cheerful laugh by replying, “Gentlemen, it's the worst scene of devastation I have ever witnessed—except for the Texas picnic.” The operation had been a model one in almost every respect. The attacking force had achieved strategic surprise; artillery preparation, naval gunfire, and aerial bombardment had successfully softened up the target in a fashion unexcelled at any other time in the Pacific War; the ship-to-shore movement had been conducted expeditiously and without too many hiccups; supplies flowed ashore and to the front lines relatively smoothly and without interruption; the infantry-engineer teams assisted by tanks moved steadily clearing the enemy from shelters and pillboxes; and American casualties had been fairly light. Altogether, the battle for Kwajalein represented the ideal for all military operations. To complete the conquest of the southern Kwajalein islands, detachments of amphibian tanks had been landed on Buster and Byron back on February 3. Troops of the 2nd Battalion, 17th Regiment landed on Burnet and Blakenship on February 4; the chain between Ashberry and Bennett was secured by February 5. On that same day, Clement, Clarence, and Clifford Islands were also secured, although on Clifton a force of 101 Japanese fought to the death. Beverly, Benson and Berlin were also secured on February 5, seeing 119 Japanese dead on the latter. Bennett fell against the 7th Reconnaissance Troop and O'Sullivan's 3rd Battalion with 94 Japanese killed. Most importantly, Colonel Zimmerman's 1st and 3rd Battalions landed on Burton's Beach Orange 4. The fortifications on Burton were much lighter than those on Kwajalein, mostly machine gun positions and rifle pits. These were organized at the beaches with a concentration of dual-purpose machine guns grouped around the seaplane base in the lagoon. At the base of the south seaplane ramp was a 20-mm. antiaircraft machine gun. Near it, and between the two seaplane ramps, were two 13-mm. single-mount machine guns, three 7.7-mm. machine guns, and a concrete pillbox. Two 8-cm. dual-purpose guns were located on the ocean shore. The large number of empty machine gun emplacements would seem to indicate that the defenses of the island had not been completed at the time of the invasion. The few pillboxes found in the vicinity of the seaplane base were small, reinforced concrete shelters, each with two firing ports facing seaward. Most of the fire trenches and rifle pits were on the ocean side at the center of the island and at the north and south ends of the island. On the morning of February 3 after a heavy artillery, air and naval bombardment, the 1st Battalion traversed the southern end of the island against weak resistance and began pushing north supported by tanks, ultimately getting stopped by strong enemy resistance at Bailey Pier.  The following morning, the assault was resumed at 0730, the main enemy resistance had shifted to the eastern side of the island. The Japanese had reoccupied four pillboxes close to the American front line on the ocean side, and were able to hold up A Company, but with the aid of self-propelled mounts, the company took the positions. During the morning, a flight of five Navy bombers made two runs over targets that had been spotted with the aid of information from a prisoner. The planes dropped a total of two and three quarters tons on an ammunition dump, a shelter, and a heavy machine gun that had an excellent field of fire across the hangar apron. Direct hits on these targets apparently disheartened the enemy. Not a single shot was fired by them at any later time during the operation. They remained buried in their dugouts until forced out or until they killed themselves. By 1130, when the 3d Battalion passed through and took up the assault, B Company  had moved about 350 yards to the southern edge of the concrete apron, and on the right A Company  was fifty to 75 yards farther back. The 3rd Battalion continued the advance north against meager resistance, ultimately reaching Burton's northern tip by 12:10. After this, the last of the enemy were readily mopped up; and by 3:37, the island was fully secured. During this battle, the 17th Regiment suffered 7 killed and 82 wounded while reporting 450 Japanese dead. Meanwhile, to the north, the 25th Marines led by Colonel Samuel C. Cumming occupied some 55 islands in the northern part of the atoll between February 2-7, finding absolutely no enemy resistance. With Kwajalein Atoll finally secured, the next objective in the Marshalls for Admirals Nimitz and Spruance would be Eniwetok, where Major-General Nishida Yoshimi was preparing his men to fight to the last. Yet that's it for the Marshall islands today, as now we are traveling over to the CBI theater, where Generals Christison and Stilwell's offensives continued.  Now last time we left off with the gang in Burma General Liao's 22nd division, Colonel Rothwell Brown's 1st provisional tank group, General Merrill's Galahad Unit alongside Chinese and American engineers were busy building the Ledo Road through the Hukawng valley. Location parties up ahead cleared a trace the width of a bulldozer and put in the center-line stakes. The final clearing averaged 150 feet. The route of the Ledo Road in some cases followed existing roads, a circumstance that did not greatly diminish the amount of clearing needed. Most clearing was by bulldozer. Combat trails and access roads were cleared to the necessary minimum that would permit heavy equipment to use them. In the valleys, the road was generally built on embankments in order to lift it above flood level. In mountainous regions, side-hill cuts were used. The road itself had about seven culverts to the mile in the mountains and five to the mile in the lowlands. These culverts were most necessary as the road was a barrier to the normal runoff of water. Surfacing was with stream-bed gravel in the valley sections and, so far as hauling permitted, natural gravel in the mountainous sections. Surfacing was about ten inches thick on the average, and from twenty to twenty-eight feet wide. Compaction was by the normal road traffic. Two regiments of Chinese engineers did pioneer construction work. There was also a combat road, a hasty improvement of the existing Kamaing Road plus the Kachin and Naga trails, that ran through Shingbwiyang, Yupbang Ga, and Taihpa Ga, then went south. The trace of the Ledo Road was moved to higher ground on the north. Forward construction units were rationed from combat supply points. Meanwhile Vinegar Joe sought to end the campaign with a single decisive victory. He planned to deploy the 1st Tank Battalion as an armored spearhead against Maingkwan, the 1st battalion, 66th regiment, the 113th was to follow down the road to take over successive positions, while the 114th would assemble at Taihpa in reserve and the 112th was to protect the flank east of the Tanai, advancing on Mashi Daru. He expected his men to hit the enemy across their rear areas. Now January had been a very rainy month, armored warfare does not do well in mud, so it was important the terrain was dry for the offensive. Stilwell would end up on February 4th decided to shift the bulk of the 22nd division to seize Yawngbang-Lakyen line while General Sun's 38th Division cleaned up the area south and east of the Tanai.  Once this first phase was done, then General Liao's 2 regiments could support an armored advance south towards Walawbum. The bad weather, however, had also delayed road work and hampered their supply lines. Stilwell biding his time, building up a reserve at Shingbwiyang and Ningam, while the men progressed their work on the Ledo Road, and built an airfield at Taihpa before launching his second phase. This unfortunately also gave enough time for General Tanaka to prepare an orderly withdrawal towards Maingkwan. During early february, General Sun's 32nd division successfully accomplished their part of the mission, but to the southwest, the enveloping hook from the Taro Plain did not go as planned. By February 14th, the 66th regiment were beginning to arrive on the Taro Plain through heavy rain, but only the 3rd battalion of the 65th regiment managed to join them. The 66th regiment was forced to continue without the proper support until they diverted to Yawngbang Ga which they seized on the 16th. By the 18th, Stilwell and Liao personally went over to check on their regiment's location and found the entire force was within the neighborhood of the 66th command post. It seems the utter confusion during these movements saved the Japanese, as quoted by General Tanaka: "If the Chinese 65th and 66th Infantry Regiments operating in the vicinity of Yawngbang had been prompt in closing in on our left rear flank on the 15th or 16th, as predicted, the main force of the 18th Division would have faced a grave crisis." After sorting out the confusion,  the Chinese advanced from Yawngbang Ga to Lakyen Ga. There they captured a Japanese document indicating they were withdrawing. Thus another chance to envelop the enemy had thus been lost.    Meanwhile, to support Stilwell's offensive, the two Allied long-range penetration units, the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, were preparing to embark on a new mission, codenamed Operation Thursday. It was to be the second Chindit expedition with the objective of mounting a long range penetration behind the Japanese who were opposing Stilwells forces in the Northern front. It was hoping the action would prevent the arrival of any reinforcements from the two Japanese divisions on the Central Front. General Hap Arnold wanted his airmen to take the Chindits behind Japanese lines, carry their supplies, evacuate their wounded and eventually fly them off, so he decided to create the 1st Air Commando Unit, under Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Cochram. The unit consisted of a squadron of P-51s; one of B-25s; 100 C4A Waco gliders; and a squadron of C-47s. Arnold spelled out the mission to Cochram and Lieutenant-Colonel John Alison, his deputy. "This man [Wingate] has really done some remarkable things. He has walked through the jungles. He has carried his supplies on mules. It takes him about six weeks to get his men through the jungle, across the rivers, and in behind the Japanese lines. The next time he goes in, I don't want him to walk. I want him to go by air. I want to make this an air operation completely independent of land transport. I want to demonstrate that you can use the air just like the navy uses the sea. You can land and maintain a force and support it in battle. I want you to go in there and take out General Wingate's wounded. We will make available the resources that you need. 'I not only want you to do that... but I want the USAAF to spearhead General Wingate's operations.' We gathered he wouldn't mind if we turned it into an air show." The mad onion lad Wingate also wanted to created strongholds within the Japanese controlled areas that could serve as bases to receive aircrafts of all types, store  supplies, hold wounded until they could be extracted, and act as centers for locals resisting the enemy. The motto for the Stronghold, as he called it, was “No Surrender”. Meanwhile Stilwell ordered Merril to close in on Ledo by February 7th, and the last American unit would arrive to Margherita on February 9th. Merrill's Marauders were to assemble at Ningbyen by February 21st whereupon they would envelop the 18th divisions east flank and block the Kamaing road near Shaduzap with the support of Sun's 113th Regiment. Simultaneously Stilwell's other troops were preparing for their attack on Maingkwan. Further in the south General Christison's 15th Corps was in a lot of trouble. The Japanese had been bringing in a lot of reinforcements for their forthcoming Arakan counteroffensive from both within and outside the Burma theater throughout December and January. By early February, General Hanaya had assembled his men and was ready to launch the first phase of Operation Ha-Go. General Hanaya planned to destroy the 7th Indian Division in the region east of Mayu Range using a pincer movement launched simultaneously from the north and south. After that, he would shift the main weight of his 55th Division near Ngangyaung against the 5th Indian Division in the Maungdaw region west of the Mayu Range. From there, he hoped to advance along the Kaladan valley to perform the phase of Ha-Go, named the Kaladan Operation. For this the men would advance towards Chittagong to distract attention from around Imphal and to draw the British reserves into Arakan.  On the night of February 3, Hanaya unleashed his offensive, with several columns, under the command of Major-General Sakurai Tokutaro, commander of the 55th Infantry Group. His force secretly infiltrated through the jungle under the cover of darkness, on the left bank of the Kalapanzin river near Buthidaung, through gaps between the 7th Division's widely separated brigades. The element of terrain and weather was paramount. Throughout the dry season a morning mist with heavy dew formed daily in the small hours and, unless cleared by rain and wind, normally persisted till well after sunrise; the noise made by the dew falling from the trees on to the dry undergrowth was loud enough to drown the sound of footsteps so that, in the jungle, movement in the early morning could be unheard as well as unseen. The tides were an important factor in planning, for at high tide many of the chaungs were unfordable. The knife-edge ridges into which the Japanese so often dug their defenses presented an unusual artillery problem. If guns were to bring effective fire to bear, they had to be sited on the line of the axis of a ridge, which was always difficult and sometimes impossible. Fire from any other angle meant that reverse slope defenses were untouched and accurate ranging was extremely difficult. The dense jungle covering the hilltops greatly restricted their use as observation points. Using the early morning mists, Hanaya's men shrouded their columns advance cutting deeply into the British defenses. At about 9 am the Gwalior Lancers reported to 7th Division by wireless that a column of Japanese about a hundred strong followed by another about eight hundred strong were approaching Taung Bazar. Major-General Frank Messervy immediately ordered his reserve brigade, the 89th to advance north to locate and destroy them and asked 15th Corps to speed up the arrival of the tanks. Christison ordered the 25th Dragoons to send a squadron to Sinzweya and 5th Division to send an infantry detachment to prevent infiltration over Goppe Pass. The 89th Brigade advanced north in two columns: the right column encountered the Japanese at about 4 pm near Ingyaung resulting in hand to hand fighting, and the left reached the bend of the Prein Chaung east of Preingyaung. The right column  dug in at Ingyaung and Lin babi and the left over the Prein Chaung. Although the main force of the 1st Echelon was delayed by some confusion, the advance guard surprised the Taung Bazar garrison at 7am. Without delay, the Battalion crossed the Kalapanzin River south of Taung Bazar, using captured boats, and was followed closely by the 2nd Echelon and the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Infantry Regiment. The main body of the 1st Echelon crossed the river northwest of Taung Bazar on the morning of the 5th. By 9am Taung Bazar was overwhelmed as the Japanese forces crossed the Kalapanzin River to cut the Ngakyedauk Pass in order to isolate the 7th Division. Meanwhile the 1st Battalion, 213th Regiment headed towards Ngangyaung. The battalion advanced parallel to the Sakurai Column before moving towards Goppe Bazaar. It was held up short of its objective, however, by the leading elements of 26th Indian Division committed from army reserve on 5th February to bolster 15th Corps. Despite this local setback, the Japanese hauled their mountain guns and equipment over the Mayu Range, midway between Goppe and Ngakyedauk, before attacking administrative troops, bridges, dumps, ambushing convoys and building a roadblock on the main line of communications along the Bawli-Maungdaw road. It failed to prevent supplies reaching 5th Indian Division, however, whose ammunition, equipment and food was transported by sea to Maungdaw. Overnight the rear areas of 15th Corps were transformed into the front line with administrative troops bearing much of the burden of dealing with advancing Japanese troops. To the surprise of many officers, they displayed a determination and fighting spirit unknown a year before and took a heavy toll of the Japanese attackers bearing out Slim's direction that every man in the army should be a soldier first and a tradesman or specialist second. The bulk of the 112th regiment led by Colonel Tanahashi Shinsaku marched towards the pass as the 2nd battalion 143rd regiment and Sakurai's HQ advanced south. The quickly found enemy resistance near Ingyaung which delayed their advance for over 2 days. Failing to make contact with General Sakurai, the Battalion continued its advance southward, bypassing Awlanbyin. Major Gen. Sakurai and his headquarters also got involved in fighting off enemy counterattacks near Ingyaung on the 5th and 6th and due to failure of his communications, was unable to keep in touch with his units. To further support the offensive, Japanese fighters and bombers from the 5th Air Division's 7th Air Brigade launched a heavy offensive to gian air superiority over the battlefield, using 34 fighters and 10 bombers. Between the 4th and 14th their fighters flew 350 sorties, and bombers attacked the Bawli and Briasco bridges and Sinzweya. Spitfires intercepted them but had less success than before. Japanese losses were believed to be some 14 aircraft destroyed and a number damaged, while RAF losses during the same period were around 11 fighters. On february 5th, having made such quick progress, Hanaya ordered the 143rd regiment to advance north. The 3rd battalion, 143rd managed to infiltrate through the Indian brigades en route and joined Sakurai's men to hit the pass. Seeing the danger, General Slim decided to reinforce Christison with the 26th Indian division led by Under General Lomax. Christison in turn ordered Lomax to move it forward to Bawli Bazar as quickly as possible. Upon their arrival at Bawli North, the 71st Brigade was then ordered to relieve the detachment from 5th Division on Goppe Pass and then attack the Japanese operating in rear of 7th Division. Likewise the 36th Indian division of Major-General F. W. Festing sped up their advance towards Chittagong while C-46 Commandos and C-47 Dakotas air dropped ammunition, food and other supplies to the front units. On the morning of the 6th, the 112th Regiment reached the sector north of Sinzweya and overran the headquarters of the British-Indian 7th Division while the 1st Battalion cut the Ngakyedauk Pass. In a perfect position to envelop the enemy in Sinzweya, Colonel Tanahashi disregarded the vital necessity for speed and delayed for 24 hours, giving the British time to establish a perimeter defense in the Sinzweya Basin. East of the range at about 5:00am, an enemy force, estimated at battalion strength, penetrated the widely separated posts held by the company of 24th Engineer Battalion defending 7th Division Headquarters, established machine-gun posts on tracks throughout the headquarters area and broke into the signal center. In hand-to-hand fighting the attackers were driven out, but not before all communications had been cut and ciphers compromised. Tanks from Sinzweya moved to the sound of the fighting as soon as it was light but the ground prevented them from reaching the headquarters area; rain which set in about 8:30 further hampered them and they had to withdraw. At about 10:00am, the signal center was finally overrun. Messervy, unable to exercise command any longer, sent orders to all branches of his headquarters to destroy papers and equipment of value and make their way in small parties to Sinzweya. Most of them succeeded in doing so during the following 24 hours. Major-General Frank Messervy and his staff would manage to successfully escape towards Sinzweya. Consequently, instead of ordering a general withdrawal like the Japanese expected, Christison directed the 9th Brigade to organize a defense of Sinzweya, which was the weakest link of the four isolated, self-contained all-round defensive boxes held by each brigade of the 7th Division. By the 7th, the defense of Sinzweya, also known as the Admin Box had been consolidated. The perimeter consisted of a series of small defended posts held, in the main, by administrative units, except at the south east and southwest corners where the roads entered the area. These were held by 4/8th Gurkhas and a company of 2nd West Yorkshire. There were insufficient troops to hold the whole of the Point 315 feature, and thus there was a deep reentrant between the southeast and northeast corners of the perimeter extending back to the southern end of Ammunition Hill. Most of the artillery was disposed on the southern face with attachments holding perimeter posts. The 25th Dragoons were in mobile reserve in two harbors held by a company of 3/4th Bombay Grenadiers, one each side of Ammunition Hill. The 2nd West Yorkshire constituted the infantry reserve and was located with divisional and garrison headquarters on the western side of Ammunition Hill. The main dressing station in the southwest corner was being moved to a more secure area. During the night, the Japanese launched an assault against Sinzweya, yet the tenacious defenders managed to hold on against the fierce enemy pressure. That night, the 33rd Brigade also managed to repulse an attack against Sinohbyin, though the arrival of these reinforcements would allow Sakurai to extricate himself from Ingyaung and head to Sinzweya to take command over the assault. On February 8, all British troops east of the Mayu range were receiving supplies by air, yet the strong presence of enemy fighters disrupted the first few attempts. Eventually, British air superiority would be restored. The No. 31 Squadron and 62 Squadron were reinforced on the 10th by 194 Squadron and on the 25th by 117 Squadron, recently arrived from the Middle East. Not only were 7th and 81st Divisions kept supplied with food and ammunition, but such amenities as cigarettes, rum, mail, razor blades and newspapers were delivered by air to the troops in increasing quantities as time went on, certainly a morale booster. Throughout the battle the Strategic Air Force and 224 Group gave constant close support to 15th Corps. In addition to providing escorts for transport squadrons, Hurricanes harried road, river and coastal transport on the Japanese lines of communication to Arakan that movement by day into the area virtually ceased. Tactical bombing of enemy positions was undertaken by two Vengeance squadrons which flew no less than 269 sorties in just over a week. The transports flew a total of 714 sorties in 5 weeks, successfully delivering nearly 2300 tons of supplies. From the night of February 8 onwards, the Admin and other boxes would also hold firm against repeated ferocious Japanese infantry night assaults, occasional air attacks and limited artillery bombardment from a handful of mountain and battalion guns by day and a medium gun firing from the nearby tunnels, thus showcasing the new spirit of the British-Indian troops. As quoted by Lieutenant-General Pownall: “We've learned how to fight where we stand and NOT to be frightened of the bogey of infiltration.” I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kwajalein has finally fallen, leaving the rest of the Marshalls at the mercy of the colossal allied air, land and sea forces. Within Burma, the Chinese, British, Indian and Americans were ferociously meeting the Japanese, showcasing their dominance in the theater was no longer as sure thing, now the Japanese faced a much stronger enemy.   

From military icons Colin Powell and Julius W. Becton Jr., to historic regimens like the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, covers African American Military History. Along with over 21 other military history books, Mike Guardia is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/ Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From military icons Colin Powell and Julius W. Becton Jr., to historic regimens like the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show with award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, covers African American Military History.   Along with over 21 other military history books, Mike Guardia is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/    Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb 

James P. Hoffman, PE, LEED AP O+M, CEM – Metropolitan Washington President, Summer Consultants, Inc. Vice Chair (2024-2026) Jim Hoffman is President of Summer Consultants, Inc., a small business providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering and commissioning services for designing government, institutional, and historic facility projects. Jim is a mechanical engineer with nearly 35 years of experience including heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, steam, plumbing, and automatic temperature control systems. He holds a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Engineering Management from The George Washington University. Before joining Summer Consultants, Jim served as a combat engineer officer in the U.S. Army with the 317th Engineer Battalion from 1989 to 1992. In addition to his engineering credentials, Jim is a LEED accredited professional and a certified energy manager. He served as Chair of the ACEC Federal Agencies & Procurement Advocacy Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee of the ACEC Small Firm Coalition. He is also the Immediate Past Chair of ACEC Metropolitan Washington.

For review:1. US Soldiers (3) killed in Drone strike at base in Jordan. Soldiers assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion.2. In wake of deadly drone attack, US CENTCOM to analyze counter-UAS needs and procedures at bases within the Area of Responsibility. 3. Syrian state media reports Iranian advisers killed in strike near Damascus. Iranian Ambassador to Syria denies Iranian casualties.4. IDF develops advanced subterranean tactics in Southern Gaza against Khan Younis Hamas battalions.5. Denmark sends Air Defense Frigate (Iver Huitfeldt) to the Red Sea to protect international shipping. Vessel will join the US-led Prosperity Guardian.6. Czech Republic signs deal to purchase 24 F-35 Fighters, becoming the 18th nation to employ the 5th Generation warplanes. First aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2031. Full Operational Capability in 2035. Deal is worth $5.6 billion.7. North Korea (reportedly) launched 2 x cruise missiles (Pulhwasal 3-31) from submarine into the Sea of Japan.8. US and Japan will partner on the future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The CCA will operate with manned platforms during electronic warfare, suppression of air defenses, and other missions (lethal).

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who discusses some of the Vietnam War history of January 1966, including Operation Crimp which was launched by U.S. and Australian Army forces. Mike also discusses some of Henry Kissinger's decisions related to the Vietnam War. Along with over 20 other military history books, is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/ Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who discusses some of the Vietnam War history of January 1966, including Operation Crimp which was launched by U.S. and Australian Army forces. Mike also discusses some of Henry Kissinger's decisions related to the Vietnam War.  Along with over 20 other military history books, Mike Guardia is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. His newly released book is “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” More: https://mikeguardia.com/    Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb 

This week we host our annual Chaplains Christmas Show co-hosted with a Colonel from the Minnesota National Guard, we discuss deployments with a Chaplain from the 682nd Engineer Battalion, learn about preparing for deployment with a Chaplain from the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division and finish with a special Christmas message/prayer. Guests include: Ch. Col. […] The post Annual Chaplains Christmas Show appeared first on Minnesota Military Radio.

Host Bryan Ford is joined by Chef Roshara Sanders, also known as Chef Ro. Deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the 4th Engineer Battalion, Chef Ro started cooking professionally after she returned stateside and joined the 395th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, where she cross trained as a food supply specialist. In 2016, NBC Black named Chef Roshara Sanders to their annual “28 Under 28” list, and in 2018 she was named to Forbes “30 Under 30.” In 2020, she became the first Black woman to be a chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She currently serves as a celebrity ambassador for Habitat for Humanity International.  Today's meal takes Chef Ro back to holidays with her Puerto Rican step family. Watch Bryan make his version and Subscribe: Youtube Recipe from today's episode can be found at Shondaland.com Join The Flaky Biscuit Community: Discord  Chef Ro IG: @chefro137 Bryan Ford IG: @artisanbryan Support the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation at chooserestaurants.orgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who talks about his brand new book, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.”  "Fire in the Hole,"  follows the deployment of Charlie Company, 1st Engineer Battalion during their deployment to Vietnam in 1965-66. These combat engineers set minefields, cleared Viet Cong tunnels...and traded fire with the meanest guerrillas that North Vietnam could throw at them. The book is available for pre-order starting Dec. 7, and will be available on Kindle & Paperback on Dec. 15, 2023 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mike-Guardia/author/B004QTZVL4  Along with over 20 other military history books, @MikeGuardiaAuthor is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. More: https://mikeguardia.com/     Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb 

This episode of Big Blend Radio's "Military Monday" Show features award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who talks about his brand new book, “Fire in the Hole: Tales of Combat with the 1st Engineer Battalion in Vietnam.” "Fire in the Hole," follows the deployment of Charlie Company, 1st Engineer Battalion during their deployment to Vietnam in 1965-66. These combat engineers set minefields, cleared Viet Cong tunnels...and traded fire with the meanest guerrillas that North Vietnam could throw at them. The book is available for pre-order starting Dec. 7, and will be available on Kindle & Paperback on Dec. 15, 2023 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mike-Guardia/author/B004QTZVL4 Along with over 20 other military history books, @MikeGuardiaAuthor is the author of the widely acclaimed biography “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always,” that chronicles the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose battlefield leadership was popularized by the film “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson. More: https://mikeguardia.com/ Mike Guardia appears on Big Blend Radio's military history shows every 1st Monday. Follow his podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/wkezexvb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the best options for getting started in coffee without as much risk is a coffee truck. Especially emphasized post-pandemic, mobile concepts like coffee trucks have grow exponentially and with it the need for reliable information on how to become successful in that context. Today we will be talking with one the go-to coffee truck authorities, Vincent LaVolpa of green Joe Coffee School!  Vincent discovered coffee while in the military working in the 16th Engineer Battalion of the 1st Armored Division as a driver eliminating IEDs. After this he became a paramedic with Albuquerque Ambulance for 7 years where coffee sustained him through that difficult work. In 2015 he started his first coffee trailer. By the end of year 2, he had a coffee truck, trailer and 4 carts. In 2018, my 3rd year in business, he opened Helix Coffee and Yoga, a coffee house and yoga studio collaboration with his wife. During this time, wrote his first book on coffee trucking. In 2019, they became pregnant with their second daughter and decided to close the shop. Vincent then dedicated himself full time to coffee consulting where I help people launch profitable mobile coffee businesses.  Today we will be talking with Vincent about practical knowledge, misconceptions, and keys steps to take in running a successful coffee truck.  We cover:  Evolution of Green Joe Creating and scaling the first truck Important lessons learned Working with the trades and planning the space Keeping it simple Flexibility Hiring for a coffee truck Misconceptions and considerations Links: www.greenjoecoffeeschool.com www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com   Related episodes:  115 : Finding Success in Mobile Coffee w/ Tim Cox / Communion Coffee 384 : How to Run a Successful Coffee Cart w/ Sarah Naylor of Daybreak Coffee Cart 359 : Founder Friday! w/ Nigel Price of Drip Coffee Makers NYC 187 : A Conversation with Nikki Outlaw of Anecho Coffee   Key Holder Coaching Group is launching in September!

In the wake of Operation Cedar Falls, tunnel-rat duties in the 1st Infantry Division were transferred to the 1st Engineer Battalion where men began to specialize in it. In this episode, we'll hear personal stories from members of the Diehard Tunnel Rats. [WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of combat, injury, and death.]

Col. Tim Hudson is the commander and district engineer of the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He joined the Corpstruction Podcast to talk about his observations and vision for the Tulsa District. Hudson is from Allentown, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and holds masters degrees from George Mason University and the U.S. Army War College. His past assignments includes service as a mathematics instructor at West Point, a platoon leader, company commander, battalion and brigade operations officer, Professor of Military Science at North Carolina State University for the Wolfpack Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, and later as a battalion commander of the 20th Engineer Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. Prior to his assignment at the Tulsa District he was the Deputy J4 for Engineering and Logistics at U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hudson has deployed to various locations in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Hudson took command of the Tulsa District July 8, 2022.

Brigadier General John W. Weidner assumed the duties as Deputy Director, Plans and Policy, United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), on May 4, 2020. General Weidner was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1991 upon graduation from the Army ROTC program at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics.He completed a Ph.D. in medical physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012, and holds Master of Science degrees in medical physics, nuclear engineering, engineering management, and strategic studies. His military education includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College. He is also a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Wisconsin. General Weidner most recently served as the Director of the US Army Nuclear and Countering WMD Agency at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he led the Army's capability to integrate nuclear weapon effects into conventional operations, and supported Army service component commands with nuclear and countering WMD expertise.General Weidner previously served as the Director of the USSTRATCOM Commander Action Group; Director for Strategic Capabilities Policy in the Defense Policy and Strategy Directorate on the National Security Council staff; Executive Director for the Office of Major Modernization Programs, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy; assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at the Air Force Institute of Technology; stockpile associate for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; consequence management advisory team leader for DTRA at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the United States Military Academy at West Point; and Deputy District Engineer for the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He commanded B Company, 52nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado and served as an Engineer Platoon Leader at Fort Riley, Kansas and in the Republic of Korea.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCast Email comments and guest nominations to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcast Rate the show

This edition features stories on a combined patrol between an Afghan National Security force and an International Security Assistance Force in which a narcotics drug network in Kandahar province, Afghanistan was overcome and large quantities of opium were seized cutting off a source of money for the Taliban and Afghan students graduating from an Afghan-led contractors course in Paktika province, Afghanistan. Hosted by Senior Airman Barbara Patton. Includes soundbites from Lt. Col. Paul Stephens, commander of the 1092nd Engineer Battalion, and Mohammad Sawab, workshop technical director.

This edition features a story on coalition forces conducting route clearance patrols in the Nawa valley in Kunar province, Afghanistan as part of their mission to provide safety and security for the Afghan people by keeping the paths safe. Hosted by Lance Cpl. Benjamin Harris. Produced by Air Force Staff Sgt. James Zannetti. Includes soundbites from Capt. Bryce Higgins - commander, 744th Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, from Layton, Utah.

This edition features stories on 368th Engineer Battalion and 1st Stryker Brigade helping build and support Route Aggah and Combat Outpost Lion and technicians and engineers of RDECOM working to make improvements to equipment used by service members in the field. Hosted by Air Force Staff Sgt. Melissa Hay. Produced by Tech. Sgt. Shane Cronin and Spc. Nigel Robinson. Includes soundbites from Staff Sgt. Dyron Merriweather of 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Sgt. Maj. Matthew DeLay, NCOIC, RFAST-C, RDECOM, and Marty Eaton, executive officer RFAST-C, DA civilian. Also available in high definition.

A combat engineer in the 54th Engineer Battalion takes advantage of his military travel to document military life with his photography. Also available in high definition

Today's guest is Kelsey Jang, who is an Army Company Commander, CrossFit athlete, and rugby player. I asked her onto the show because she's stepping into the world of real estate investing in a way that is both simple and relatable. In this episode, I have her to share her experience with buying her first rental property (priced at $110K with 10% down), in order to provide you with an example for how she got started. As you all know, I talk about real estate a lot—because I own residential rental properties, an AirBnb property, and a variety of commercial real estate, including multi-family, industrial, and self storage assets—but I want to feature her story because she's just getting started—which is probably were a lot of you are at. As brief background on Kelsey, she's also an elite rugby player, she's a talented CrossFit athlete and coach, and she was commissioned into the Army as an Engineer Officer and is currently serving as the Company Commander of Bravo Company, 249th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg, NC. She has a Civil Engineering degree from West Point and a Master's degree in Engineering Management from the University of Louisville. She also completed Sapper School and has her Sapper tab. You're going to learn a lot from her today, especially if you're looking to become a real estate investor and don't know where to start. So, Kelsey, welcome to the show! Resources Mentioned: The Essential Guide to Buying a Home With a VA Loan - https://cadehildreth.com/va-loan/ How Much Money Do You Need to Invest in Real Estate? - https://cadehildreth.com/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-invest-in-real-estate/ Definitions: BAH = Basic Housing Allowance Cash-Out Refinance = Replacing your existing mortgage with one that allows you to withdraw equity from a property that you own. VA Loan = A loan program allowing past and present military service members to buy a house with no money down, using a loan is backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. About the "What You Should Have Been Taught" Podcast: As an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur, real estate investor, and former USA Rugby Player, Cade will teach you what your parents and teachers should have taught you, but didn't know themselves. To connect with Cade, visit: Website: CadeHildreth.com (2 Million+ Views Per Year) Instagram: @CadeHildreth (33K+ Followers) Facebook: @CadeHildreth (27K+ Followers) Pinterest: Pinterest.com/CadeHildreth (165K+ Monthly Viewers) Twitter: @CadeHildreth (3K+ Followers) TikTok: @CadeHildreth (114K+ Followers)

Jason talks about his experience leading the construction of a 350-meter-long pontoon bridge across the Tigris River in Iraq near Tikrit during the Iraq war. For photos and a full description of the project, please see https://www.buildbigideas.com/post/how-to-build-a-pontoon-bridge-during-the-iraq-war-ep16 In late September 2003, while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 555th Combat Engineer Group (TF ABLE) received the mission to construct a bypass around the damaged Tikrit fixed bridge crossing the Tigris River. This bypass would enable the 4th Infantry Division's maneuver units east-west mobility across the Tigris River. The crux of the bypass was the actual crossing of the Tigris. The solution was constructing a 350m bridge, the largest Mabey & Johnson float bridge ever built – capable of trafficking MLC 110 military vehicles. During the 3 weeks of planning and 2.5 months of construction, the 14th Engineer Battalion met with a variety of challenges that forced them to exhibit engineering problem solving skills, developing innovative solutions to complex problems.

Video of this event is available here: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/04/30/maine-voices-live-with-bill-nemitz/ Bill Nemitz Bill Nemitz has worked as a journalist in Maine since 1977, when he became a reporter for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville after graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He moved to Portland in 1983, working first as a reporter for the Evening Express and later as a city editor and assistant managing editor/sports for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. He began writing his column in 1995. While focusing on Maine people and issues, his work has taken him three times to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan, where he was embedded with members of the Maine Army National Guard and the Army Reserve; to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the 1998 referendum on the Good Friday Peace Accord; to Manhattan for the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; to the Gulf Coast for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; and to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. Nemitz is a past president of the Maine Press Association and for many years taught journalism part-time at St. Joseph's College of Maine in Standish. He also served for eight years, including three as chairman, on the board of trustees for the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland. In 2004, the Maine Press Association named Nemitz Maine Journalist of the Year for his reporting on the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion in Iraq. In 2007, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the New England Newspaper Association. In 2015, Nemitz was inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame.

Photo:  Army Capt. Shawn L. English              Died December 3, 2006 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom Capt. Shawn L. English, 35, of Westerville, Ohio; assigned to the 577th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; died Dec. 3 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad. Gold Star Family of Captain Shawn L. English, KIA December 3, 2006; the letter to POTUS in re: Iran.   Bradley Bowman @FDD, & Former @WestPointSosh, @USArmy officer.   https://www.scribd.com/document/552896192/Open-Letter-to-President-Biden-January-13-2022?secret_password=C8jZ1OPiHWKcIM5v4WIF. 

Frozen Chosen: With the path to Hungnam blocked at Funchilin Pass due to the blown bridge, the US Air Force stood tall to deliver the means for the Marines to continue their fighting withdrawal. At 9 am on 7 December, eight C-119 Flying Boxcars flown by the US 314th Troop Carrier Wing appeared over Koto-Rl and were used to drop portable bridge sections by parachute. The bridge, consisting of eight separate 18 ft long sections, were dropped one section at a time, using two 48 ft parachutes on each section. Each plane carried one bridge section, weighing close to 2,500 pounds. The Marines needed only four sections, but had requested eight in case several did not survive the drop. The planes lowered to eight hundred feet, drawing fire from the Chinese on the surrounding hills, and the cargo masters began dumping their precious cargo. Each bridge section had giant G-5 parachutes attached to both ends for security if a single chute failed. A practice drop with smaller chutes at Yonpo airfield near Hungnam had failed, but there was no time for more experimentation. It was now or never for the 1st Marine Division. By 1530 on 9 December, four of these sections, together with additional wooden extensions, were successfully reassembled into a replacement bridge by Marine Corps combat engineers, led by First Lieutenant David Peppin of Company D, 1st Engineer Battalion, and the US Army 58th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company enabling UN forces to proceed.  Outmaneuvered, the PVA 58th and 60th Divisions still tried to slow the UN advance with ambushes and raids, but after weeks of non-stop fighting, the two Chinese divisions combined had only 200 soldiers left. The last UN forces left Funchilin Pass by 11 December.

Coach Kevin Kuwik's Story: In this episode, you'll hear from Kevin Kuwik. Kevin is currently an assistant coach for Bob McKillop at Davidson College. Coach Kuwik has had an incredible coaching career. As a student at Notre Dame, Kevin studied mechanical engineering and basketball! Kevin was a student assistant coach for Coach John MacLeod. At Notre Dame, Kevin's passion for coaching surpassed a potential engineering career. Kuwik began his coaching career at Christian Brothers University. He then went to Division II Saint Michael's College. Coach Tim O'Shea gave Coach Kuwik his first Division I shot at Ohio University in the MAC. During his time at Ohio, Kevin took an 18-month leave of absence to serve with the 113th Engineer Battalion of the Indiana National Guard in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As you hear in this podcast, the lessons that Coach Kuwik has learned from the US Army is at the core of his coaching and life philosophy. After Ohio, Kevin worked for Brad Stevens at Butler, Thad Matta at Ohio State, and Archie Miller at Dayton. Kevin details each head coaches' strengths in this podcast. Currently in his fourth season at Davidson, Coach Kuwik gives many examples why Coach McKillop is a Hall of Fame Coach. Finally, Kevin shares so many smart and practical tips for young coaches. Get your notepads ready. Recently, Kevin was selected to participate in the 2021 TopConnect Basketball Symposium. Kevin is indeed one of the elite assistant coaches in America. Follow Coach Kevin Kuwik @KevinKuwikFollow Tell Me Your Story Coach @CoachKevinDro Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEMoneyball Sportswear Moneyball, The Only Way To Ball! Great Sports Wear and Basketball Uniforms! Michigan Made! Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Major General Gregg F. Martin, U.S. Army (retired) was the 48th Commandant of the United States Army War College. Prior to his arrival at Carlisle, MG Martin served in Kuwait as the Deputy Commanding General of Third Army and US Army Central during the simultaneous buildup in Afghanistan and responsible drawdown from Iraq. Before that, he served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Born in Massachusetts, MG Martin graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with a bachelor's degree and was commissioned in 1979 into the Army Corps of Engineers. He subsequently earned master's degrees in civil engineering and technology policy, as well as a Ph.D. in engineering management and public policy from MIT, with a dissertation on strategic leadership and organizational change. He is a graduate of the Naval and Army War Colleges, and holds master's degrees in strategic studies from both. Critical command and troop leadership positions include: Commandant of the US Army Engineer School and Regiment and Deputy Commanding General of the US Army Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood; Commanding General and Division Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division in Portland, OR (during which time he was also a Presidential appointee, confirmed by the Senate, to the Mississippi River Commission); and command of the 130th Engineer Brigade and service as the V Corps / CJTF-7 Engineer in Europe and the Middle East from June 2002 to July 2004, which included the ground assault to Baghdad, liberation of Iraq, and leading an expanded brigade of 13,000 soldiers conducting full-spectrum operations across Iraq in the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Other commands include the 5th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, MO (providing direct support to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment), and B Company, 79th Engineer Battalion in Karlsruhe, Germany. As a lieutenant, he was a Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer with the 94th Engineer Battalion in Darmstadt, Germany. MG Martin's staff positions include: Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans) for U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army in Heidelberg, Germany; Task Force Engineer with Joint Task Force Bravo in Honduras; I Corps Engineer Operations Officer; Operations Officer and Executive Officer of the 864th Engineer Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA; and Project Engineer in the Corps of Engineers' Europe Division in Karlsruhe, Germany. MG Martin's leader development and education positions include: Instructor and Director of Senior Command and Leadership at the Army War College; Instructor and Assistant Professor of National Security Studies, International Relations and American Politics in the Department of Social Sciences, as well as Recruiting and Admissions Officer at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY. MG Martin's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (3 Awards), the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (8 Awards), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (2 Awards), the Army Achievement Medal, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, and Combat Action Badge. He was chosen by Engineering News Record for the 2003 “Award of Excellence” as the engineering profession's Person of the Year for his leadership role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a testament to our magnificent Soldiers. MG Martin is married to Maggie, the former Margaret Ryan; the Martins have three sons, all Eagle Scouts, two of whom are active duty Soldiers, and one who is a college student. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/support

Photo: The border shows how it needs additional barrier support from the 937th Route Clearance Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade in Bisbee, Arizona, November 6, 2018. U.S. Northern Command is providing military support to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure the southern border of the United States. (U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Bradley McKinley).@BatchelorshowFlash floods and Tom Tiffany from Wisconsin. Michael Yon, Patreon.comhttps://www.maciverinstitute.com/2021/06/44915/

In the second of a two-part episode, Col. Bill Gara tells stories of the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion of the 1st Infantry. Gara served from North Africa to Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge. See additional photos and learn more about the 1st Engineer Battalion at firstengineerbattalionveterans.org.

Col. Bill Gara tells stories of the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion of the 1st Infantry, which he led from the 1944 Normandy landings through May of 1945. Gara served from North Africa to Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge. See additional photos and learn more about the 1st Engineer Battalion at firstengineerbattalionveterans.org and tune in next time to hear the rest of his interview on Warriors in Their Own Words.

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 45, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Cell 1: This company beat out Qwest to buy MCI and become a telecom colossus Verizon. 2: This cellphone maker has jumped back to the No. 2 spot worldwide by a Razr's edge Motorola. 3: Started by SBC and Bellsouth, it's now a "one of a kind" company with its purchase of A and Wireless Cingular. 4: Nextel's merger with this company should give the competition a run for their money Sprint. 5: You can shoot videos and play music with a Walkman phone from Ericsson in partnership with this company Sony. Round 2. Category: Boy Scout Merit Badges 1: A boy doesn't have to shoot a bullseye to earn the badge seen here for this sport Archery. 2: If you can describe a float, trap and drainpipe, you're on your way to a badge in this field Plumbing. 3: The name of this badge seen here comes from a group of Greek sister goddesses[badge with a harp] Music badge. 4: The name of the badge seen here, or an unfortunate investment for the Clintons Whitewater. 5: You must earn the hiking, swimming or cycling badge to become this type of scout Eagle Scout. Round 3. Category: Super Bowl Mvps 1: In 1999, this Denver quarterback Elway. 2: The first 2-time MVP (for the first 2 Super Bowls) was this team's Bart Starr the Packers. 3: After a last-second Colts FG in Super Bowl V, this team's Chuck Howley became the first MVP from a losing team the Dallas Cowboys. 4: VIII:Larry Csonka Miami Dolphins. 5: This Steelers wide receiver didn't need 57 reasons to be named Super Bowl XL's MVP in 2006 Hines Ward. Round 4. Category: Groups 1: This word can mean a group of graffiti taggers as well as of rappers, like the "2 Live" one crew. 2: William R. Howell (no relation to Thurston III) is on this body for Pfizer, Halliburton and Exxon Mobil a board of directors. 3: It can mean "one", or a group of soldiers, like the 326th Engineer Battalion unit. 4: As well as a group in the Old West aiding the sheriff, it can be your bunch of pals from the neighborhood posse. 5: A mother fowl's group of young, or what she does when she worries about them brood. Round 5. Category: Frozen In Stone 1: You'll find the statue ("David") seen here in this Italian city Florence. 2: From Laos the statue seen here is a reclining version of this founder of a religion Buddha. 3: It's the building where you'll find the head (of the 16th president) seen here Lincoln Memorial. 4: The name of these grotesque figures like this one seen here comes from an old word for "throat" Gargoyles. 5: This country owns the island (Easter Island) where you'll find the guy seen here Chile. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!

In episode 1, I discuss how I got started in coffee trucking and my journey from leaving medicine to starting my own mobile coffee truck. 0:01 Intro 10:24 Why I decided to open a coffee truck 18:30 How I got the name of my coffee truck 22:30 When I quit my day job 30:00 How I started to make money online 33:20 When I decided to close my coffee shop 40:55 Getting started with low finances The Ultimate Guide on How to Build Coffee Trucks: https://www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com/pages/ebook The Ultimate Coffee Truck Business Plan: https://www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com/pages/business-plan Coffee Truck Crash Course https://www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com/products/course-and-coaching-bundle-save-120 About Vince: As far as myself, there's not much to say. I'm in my thirties, married to the woman of my dreams with two awesome daughters. I'm a purple heart veteran, serving with the 1st Armored Division, 16th Engineer Battalion as a combat engineer. I used my GI Bill to get my degree in Emergency Medicine where I worked as a paramedic in Albuquerque for roughly 7 years. Seeking change, I became the Operations Director for a local supplement company. After years of 60-70 hour work weeks, I bought the trailer and started building the coffee truck during the weekends. In September, I made the jump and opened the Green Joe Coffee Truck. My life hasn't been the same since... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenjoecoffeetruck Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenjoecoffeetruck

Why Listen My conversation today is with two different Veterans senior in the tech industry. In addition to talking about their long and successful career including operations, program management, product management and more, we talk about the ideal team player (based on their experience hiring hundreds of people), the difference between a good boss and a bad boss, differences in leadership out of the military, and more. This interview brings over 20 years of hard earned experience that is a wealth of knowledge regardless of your desired career path.  About Mike Sedgwick Mr. Sedgwick is Vice President of Defense and Aerospace Products for SCI Technology, Inc. (SCI), a Sanmina company, in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike is responsible for oversight of SCI’s Aircraft and Tactical product organizations including the FireComm® and TOCNET® product lines. He has extensive expertise in wide-ranging areas including Strategic Planning, Defense & Aerospace Contract Management, P&L Accountability, Business Development, Project Management, Contracts, Budgeting, Scheduling, and Logistics. Mike previous held the titles of Senior Program Manager and Director of Aircraft Systems with SCI. Prior to his latest move to SCI, Mr. Sedgwick served as General Manager of AAR Integrated Technologies and Business Director for the Hypersonic Design and System Integration segment at i3. Mike has managed organizations and teams that include Program Management, Engineering, Contracts, Quality, Manufacturing, HR and Supply Chain to ensure the seamless production of sophisticated defense and aerospace hardware. Beyond his impressive business credentials, he served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces. He currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Military Intelligence Officer. Previously, Mike served as Battalion Intelligence Officer (S-2) with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and as a Company Executive Officer with the 82nd Airborne Division. Mr. Sedgwick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. About Peter Cianfaglione Peter Cianfaglione is Vice President of Operations at SCI Technology, Inc., a Sanmina Company, in Huntsville, Alabama. Peter is responsible for SCI’s manufacturing operations to include production, manufacturing, quality engineering, and supply chain. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Peter completed an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Ottawa in the Regular Officer Training Program (the Canadian equivalent to ROTC). During and upon completion of his degree, he served in the Canadian Army as a Combat Engineer and Infantry Officer (including service with the Commando in the Canadian Airborne Regiment). In 1993, Peter joined Motorola while transitioning to reserve service. He moved to the United States in 1997 with Motorola while continuing his service as a Canadian Army Reservist including exchange postings with 82nd Abn, 36th ID (Texas National Guard) and 4th ID. In addition to these roles, he also supported the sharing of information between the Canadian and United States militaries on lessons learned in IED awareness from both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. Shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2005, he was mobilized in support of recovery operations following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Following a move to Huntsville, Alabama, in 2006, Peter took on various capacities with Benchmark Electronics in electronics manufacturing while both continuing his role with the Canadian Army Reserves as well as completing a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. Peter returned to his home town of Ottawa, Canada from 2009-2011 to work for General Dynamics while commanding a reserve Engineer Battalion. While in Ottawa, he completed his third and final deployment. Upon his return to the United States in 2011, he resumed work with Benchmark Electronics in various capacities, including General Manager and Vice President - Global Accounts. Peter is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff Course, New Zealand Grade 2 Staff Course and Canadian Joint Command and Staff Programme. He joined SCI in 2020 and is currently working towards completion of a PHD in Engineering. He and his wife of 25 years have seven children, two of which are presently serving in the U.S. military.

Special Guest Alert! Annex Alum 1st Lieutenant Drew Dahm is bringing us a good word from the 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, XVII Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg, NC! Hear how the Annex shaped his life and how important community is!

Karamokoh B. Wurie was born in Free Town, Sierra Leone, West Africa. After surviving a lot of hardship and a devastating civil war in Sierra Leone where he almost lost his life.Karamokoh later enlisted into the US army. His assignments includes the 36th Engineer Brigade, 20th Engineer Battalion, 510th Clearance Company in Fort Hood, Texas. The 214th Aviation Battalion in Wiesbaden, Germany. 16th Military Police Brigade, 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 65th Medical Brigade, 568th Medical Ground Ambulance in Camp Humphreys in South Korea. Karamokoh B. Wurie deployed twice in Afghanistan in support of "Operation Enduring Freedom."Are you tired of feeling stuck, unmotivated, uninspired, and unproductive? Be ready to finally make a shift in your life that'll completely transform you! No matter what pain, struggles, or circumstances that you are maybe going through, you have the power to overcome and create a life of excitement and abundance. In the Self-Empowerment Journal, you'll learn a complete step by step approach to take your life to the next level.More information at;https://kwurie.com

In this episode Sara and Jason sit down with Lt Col Josh Barrow and Command Sgt. Maj. Kelly Wickel, the command team of the 898 Brigade Engineer Battalion. In this episode we talk about what the battalion is, how their mission supports the Brigade and their vision for the future. If you have any suggestions for future topics or are interested in co-hosting please contact us: sara.m.morris7.civ@mail.mil

Chris recalls his time as a B-3 Bandit and talks about his journey from Korea, to Hawaii, to New York City, to London, Columbia and Washington DC. We recall the two units in which we served together, the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2ID and the "Fighting 411th" also nicknamed the "Archie Bunker Brigade." Chris served at a senior level in the Department of Energy and is now a Senior VP of Policy and Government Relations for Cheniere Energy. Chris talks about his family's pain of losing his cousin Lieutenant Emily Perez USMA '05; as well as losing his B-3 Bandit brother Bill Hecker. Chris also tells the story of his plebe year roommate Derrick Wright who sustained a traumatic brain injury while serving for a military contractor; and the inspiring and courageous journey he and his wife Cindy have endured since the event. 

Explicit. Todd served at Camp Slayer in Baghdad with the 164th Engineer Battalion, Headquarters Company, of the North Dakota Army National Guard in 2007 and 2008. Recorded in 2011 in Todd's home in North Dakota while looking at Baghdad on … Continue reading →

Southern Sense is a show of conservative talk on news and events, with Annie "The Radio Chick" Ubelis as host and CS Bennett as co-host.  Informative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey!Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.** This show is dedicated to Army Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer and Army Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen, killed when his living area came under mortar attack. He was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Died on December 25, 2003.Guests:Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America  gunowners.org  TWITTER: @larrypratt"Wild Bill" Finlay, grew up in the Rockies and had a career in law enforcement, serving as both a Deputy Sheriff and a Deputy U.S. Marshal. He is a graduate of the Colorado Law Enforcement Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Academy and the U.S. Marshal’s Academy. He served with the U.S. Marines as a Corpsman.As a security specialist, Bill has tackled Islamic violence and intimidation head on, recruiting and training security teams to protect missionaries serving around the world. Having studied Islam intensely and seen it first hand, he is well qualified to speak out about the dangers this religion presents.WildBillForAmerica.com 

A five-bay, two-story, medium girder bridge sits completely built after a day of hard work from the Marines of 9th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, during Blue Chromite 16 at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 30, 2015. According to Cpl. Cole G. White, the 9th ESB bridge master, this bridge will be the first five-bay bridge to ever be lifted on Okinawa, and the second in Marine Corps history. Blue Chromite is a large-scale amphibious exercise that draws primarily from III Marine Expeditionary Force’s training resources on Okinawa. The location of the training allows participating units to maintain a forward-deployed posture and eliminates the cost of traveling to train.

Southern Sense is a show of conservative talk on news and events, with Annie "The Radio Chick" Ubelis as host and CS Bennett as co-host.  Informative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey! Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook. ** This show is dedicated to Army Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer and Army Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen, killed when his living area came under mortar attack. He was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Died on December 25, 2003. Guests: Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America  gunowners.org  TWITTER: @larrypratt "Wild Bill" Finlay, grew up in the Rockies and had a career in law enforcement, serving as both a Deputy Sheriff and a Deputy U.S. Marshal. He is a graduate of the Colorado Law Enforcement Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Academy and the U.S. Marshal's Academy. He served with the U.S. Marines as a Corpsman. As a security specialist, Bill has tackled Islamic violence and intimidation head on, recruiting and training security teams to protect missionaries serving around the world. Having studied Islam intensely and seen it first hand, he is well qualified to speak out about the dangers this religion presents. WildBillForAmerica.com  

Southern Sense is a show of conservative talk on news and events, with Annie "The Radio Chick" Ubelis as host and CS Bennett as co-host.  Informative, fun, irreverent and politically incorrect, you never know where we'll go, but you'll love the journey!Visit our website at http://www.Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here and on Facebook.** This show is dedicated to Army Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer and Army Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen, killed when his living area came under mortar attack. He was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. Died on December 25, 2003.Guests:Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America  gunowners.org  TWITTER: @larrypratt"Wild Bill" Finlay, grew up in the Rockies and had a career in law enforcement, serving as both a Deputy Sheriff and a Deputy U.S. Marshal. He is a graduate of the Colorado Law Enforcement Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Academy and the U.S. Marshal’s Academy. He served with the U.S. Marines as a Corpsman.As a security specialist, Bill has tackled Islamic violence and intimidation head on, recruiting and training security teams to protect missionaries serving around the world. Having studied Islam intensely and seen it first hand, he is well qualified to speak out about the dangers this religion presents.WildBillForAmerica.com 

As the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan draws to a close, Bagram Airfield finds itself engaged in a different sort of battle: the ‘war on wood’. Across the sprawling base, temporary buildings are being torn down, replaced by concrete ones as this is one of the bases where troops will be housed next year as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission. Includes sound bites from Col. John Whitford, 242nd Construction Management Team, 2nd Engineer Brigade; Capt. Timothy Welbaum, 304th Engineer Company, 528th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade; Master Sgt. Ryan Darnell, 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, Pararescue Team Leader and Capt. Cameron Rochelle, 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron Combat Rescue Officer. Also available in high definition.

Dr. Brad Joliff is the Scott Rudolph Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He received a Masters Degree and PhD in Geology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology after serving on active duty in the US Army in Germany with the 54th Engineer Battalion and in Virginia at the Countermine Lab at Ft. Belvoir. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis before joining the faculty there. Brad is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Army Maj. Ronnie Spears, Executive Officer of the 890th Engineer Battalion, responds to a community need fro an emergency spillway to be built in order to relieve pressure off a levee and to prevent flooding while at Percy Quinn State Park, McComb, Miss., August 30, 2012 and footage of levee, surroundings, damage and Soldiers with equipment. Soundbites from Maj. Ronnie Spiers. Also available in high definition.

Package about combat engineers helping to rebuild a road in eastern Afghanistan. Produced by Gail McCabe. Includes soundbites from Maj. Adam Chalmers, 9th Engineer Battalion, 172 IBCT, Capt. Anwar, 2nd Brigade, Afghan National Army, and Capt. David Farrar, A Co., 9th Engineer Battalion, 172 IBCT. Also available in high definition.

Subject: Memorial Day Tribute Speaker or Performer: Ron Carver Date of Delivery: May 27, 2012 Ron Carver offers up a tribute to the fallen warriors from a very personal perspective as he remembers all the fallen warriors including the loss of his son-in-law, Army Spc. Mathew V. Gibbs, whodiedon August 3rd, 2005from wounds received inBaghdad, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his armored personnel carrier. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 648th Engineer Battalion, 48th Infantry Brigade, Statesboro, Georgia. Ron shares about the Warrior's Walk memorial at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Interviews conducted following the tornado damage in Saylersville, Ky., March 2, 21012. Includes interviews with Spc. Glenn Cornett, 207th Engineer Battalion and Kenna Spears, Advanced Auto District Manager. Available in high definition.

B-roll of the Best Warrior Competition 2011 held on Ft. Shafter and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Scenes include U.S. Army reservists from across the Pacific gathering to compete in the 9th Mission Support Command's regional Best Warrior Competition which kicked off April 20, 2011. Alaska native Spc. Jessica Storch, a medic with the 1984th U.S. Army Hospital was honored as the new Soldier of the year. Guam-based Sgt. Gerald Manansala, an interior electrician for the 797th Engineer Company, 411th Engineer Battalion, was honored as the Non-commissioned officer of the year. Part 2 of 3.

B-roll of the Best Warrior Competition 2011 held on Ft. Shafter and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Scenes include U.S. Army reservists from across the Pacific gathering to compete in the 9th Mission Support Command's regional Best Warrior Competition which kicked off April 20, 2011. Alaska native Spc. Jessica Storch, a medic with the 1984th U.S. Army Hospital was honored as the new Soldier of the year. Guam-based Sgt. Gerald Manansala, an interior electrician for the 797th Engineer Company, 411th Engineer Battalion, was honored as the Non-commissioned officer of the year. Part 3 of 3.

B-roll of the Best Warrior Competition 2011 held on Ft. Shafter and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Scenes include U.S. Army reservists from across the Pacific gathering to compete in the 9th Mission Support Command's regional Best Warrior Competition which kicked off April 20, 2011. Alaska native Spc. Jessica Storch, a medic with the 1984th U.S. Army Hospital was honored as the new Soldier of the year. Guam-based Sgt. Gerald Manansala, an interior electrician for the 797th Engineer Company, 411th Engineer Battalion, was honored as the Non-commissioned officer of the year. Part 1 of 3.

Package about Soldiers from the 6th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Movement Enhancement Brigade,assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska, setting out on a mission to construct an ice bridge that crosses the Delta River on Fort Greely, Alaska. The Army Engineers construct the bridge by building ice and crushing it then grating it out until the surface is able to support Heavy Equipment up to 56 tons. Also available in high definition.

Package about Headquarters Support Company of the 153rd Engineer Battalion of the S.D. Army National Guard conducting explosive ordnance training. Produced by Sgt. Michael Bisson. Also available in high definition.

This edition features a story on Yoga benefiting service members, flooding in Afghanistan and a transfer of authority ceremony for the 27th Engineer Battalion. Hosted by Cpl. Aron Harrity.